Alpha
by megamatt09
Summary: Lana Lang makes it her mission in life to crack the enigma that is Clark Kent. Clark Kent tries to answer questions about his unique biology that are unforeseen by his biological parents. Teenage drama makes things slightly more complicated, but doesn't it always?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: **

* * *

Lana Lang would have screamed if she thought that it would help. Instead the girl just settled for gritting her teeth and crossing her arms in frustration.

The seventeen year old Junior of Smallville High wondered about things that passed for gossip in this place. She supposed that it was an excellent change for everyone talking about who broke up with who, along with who was dating who, and who was cheating on who.

It was a change to hear about the mysterious savior at the bridge yesterday. A car was about ready to careen off the bridge, but someone stopped it from going off of the bridge. The driver and the passenger were both intoxicated out of their mind, so their words couldn't pass for anything.

Lana flipped her fiery red hair back and sighed. She was a beauty, red hair, brown eyes, creamy complexion, fairly curvy with long legs that currently were showcased with the skirt of her cheerleader uniform.

It sounded a bit pretentious to say that guys practically threw themselves at her. She was fairly popular though. These were the type of boys though that could make a person wonder about them.

Lana knew to gracefully step around these people. She was called a cold bitch, which was really mature. That was the kindest of the insults these butt hurt little boys said about her. Lana couldn't really care at all.

The fact was that Lana had her sights set on one young man in particular. She had her sights set on him for a very long time. The most frustrating thing was that he was intelligent in many areas, but he couldn't get the really obvious hint about what Lana was trying to tell him.

Clark Kent was the name of her pain. He was the son of Jonathan and Martha Kent, farmers in Smallville and Lana's neighbors from up the street. She saw Clark pretty much every single day of her life.

She saw him in the middle of the summer without a shirt on doing chores. Lana observed him doing hard labor, never breaking a sweat. That brought certain thoughts to mind regarding his stamina. Lana found herself observing Clark for a long time, until he caught her. She managed to recover and invite Clark in for a nice cool glass of lemonade.

The only thing that galled Lana was that for Clark Kent, lemonade really was lemonade.

'_Why is it the ones that you want are the unattainable?' _she thought. She didn't want to come across as too clingy.

Or for this to somehow some across as some kind of twisted gender flipped version of Twilight. Thankfully, Lana hadn't stooped to watching Clark sleeping. Even though if she had a telescope, she could in theory see into Clark's bedroom from her house.

Okay, that was kind of creepy.

Okay, that was very creepy. Lana wanted to take a shower for even thinking considering that.

Lana wondered when Clark would show up. He was the king of the near tardy as of late. He somehow made it into class before the final bell. Technically, if your butt touched the chair before that bell stopped ringing, you weren't late for class.

That was an interesting little loophole and Clark had been able to exploit it every time.

Lana made her way through the gossiping students and her way to first period. The first warning bell could be heard and she was able to get into class.

Clark Kent was not in class right yet. Lana frowned and hung her book bag from the side of the chair.

'_Three, two, one,' _Lana thought.

Clark was there, just after the final bell had rung. He was in his seat.

"Well, that's a new record," Lana said, looking over her shoulder towards him with a smile. "You're living dangerously, aren't you, Mr. Kent? Why are you so late anyway?"

"Chores, got caught up," Clark said.

"And you missed the bus, and I've never seen you drive anything more than a tractor," Lana said.

The teacher cleared her throat. Lana looked up at the old bag that should have retired about twelve years ago. Maybe that was being generous.

Twenty or twenty five seemed rather accurate.

"Hey, Clark, can I borrow a pen, please?" Lana asked. She turned around and bent down. The low cut top that she wore showed a nice amount of cleavage.

Any other guy in the world and his eyes would be superimposed down there. Clark managed to look her in the eyes.

"Sure thing, Lana," Clark said.

"Thanks, Clark, I owe you big time," Lana said. She smiled and turned around, sighing.

"No problem, I'm just doing what any guy would do," Clark said in his usual "aw shucks" Kansas City farm boy tone of voice.

'_What planet are you from anyway, Clark Kent?' _Lana asked. Her mental question was made in jest.

* * *

Clark Kent wondered what he was turning into. He had a pretty good idea because of the crystals that his biological parents left behind. He was not from around Earth. There was always some oddness. Odd incidents were actually far more common in Smallville, thanks to the meteor shower and he wondered if he had been empowered because of that.

He learned about a year ago that he came from a now doomed planet known as Krypton. His parents sent him off of the dying planet. As far as Clark knew, he was the very last. But he couldn't be for sure, whether or not others got off the planet. The crystals of his parents only captured their base personalities and were made shortly after he was born. They didn't know how the planet ended.

Clark felt his powers kick in a big way recently. He was stronger more durable, and had much more stamina than most his age. He could run faster, jump higher, and he could fly short distances.

That's how he was able to save that car just the other day. And now people were talking about. His father, his adopted one, did caution him that no one could find out about his unique abilities. The government would have liked to get their hands on someone like him.

Thankfully, he was able to control his own strength with under contact with humans. Otherwise he could crush someone's hand by shaking it.

"Clark?"

Lana's voice brought him out of his stupor.

"Um, Lana….." Clark said and Lana handed him his pen back.

"Just returning your pen back," Lana said. She looked at him.

"Don't you need it for next period?" Clark asked.

"No, I just get a new one in my locker, you weren't the only one that was running late," Lana said. "Although, I do wonder how you just barely make it in time. You're faster than a speeding bullet, I just hope that that doesn't translate into other areas."

Clark raised an eyebrow at what she said. Perhaps he was reading too much into it. He smiled at her.

"Well, let's hope that I can slow down when it counts," Clark said. He didn't want to get accused of having his mind in the gutter by his friend, so he decided not to say too much.

His mind had been wandering a bit more into that destination any more.

"Well, I'm sure that you'll adapt if given enough incentive," Lana said. She smiled and accidentally trapped him up against the lockers.

She looked like a predator and Clark wondered where this was going. He caught a whiff of something that caused his mind to be distracted.

"What?" Lana asked. She could see the frown going over Clark's face.

"It's just….smelled something," Clark said.

"Oh, wait, are you trying to say that I stink?" Lana asked. She was half teasing him, but she also half wanted his honest opinion about something.

"No, no, it doesn't smell bad….is that a new perfume?" Clark asked. His super senses were bombarded by what she had on her. It was an exotic scent and she smelled better than normal.

Not that he had a habit of sniffing girl's, but considered it was up close when she had him almost pinned against a locker, it was kind of hard not to.

"Yes, I imported it straight from France, it cost a pretty penny," Lana said. "But, if it smells like cow manure, I guess that I got screwed."

"No, it smells nice," Clark said.

"Are you trying to tell me that I smell nice, Clark Kent?" Lana asked, with a smile. "Or is the perfume that smells nice?"

Clark looked at her. "There really isn't any way I can get out of this, without getting in trouble, am I?"

Lana looked at him. _'Perhaps you're not as dim as you'd like everyone to think, Clark Kent.' _

"So, Clark, do you think that I can ask you something else?" Lana asked, deciding to let him off of the hook for the entire perfume thing.

"What is it?" Clark asked. He was almost afraid to ask.

"Do you have a date for the Harvest Dance?" Lana asked him.

"A date, for the dance?" Clark asked.

"Yes, you know a female companion to enjoy the night with and to have a good time, something that I think that you're sorely lacking," Lana told him.

Bless his cotton socks, but he can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes.

"I know how to have a good time," Clark protested.

"Eat, sleep, chores, school, repeat, eat, sleep, chores, school, repeat," Lana rattled off. "That is your life in general, and don't deny it."

Clark knew that Lana could not know about his other activities. His father, both of them, insisted that he keep his abilities under wraps. Even though Clark really wanted to tell his friend what he was up to. He had a feeling that Lana would understand if he told her soon, rather than if he kept it from her for something like six or seven years or something absurd like that.

"And you didn't answer my question, Clark Kent," Lana said.

"No, I don't have a date," Clark said.

"Well, I guess that I'll have to fix that," Lana replied in a chipper voice. "I said that I owe you one and the least I can do is be your date for the dance."

"That seems like a very uneven trade," Clark said.

"Well, consider it payment for all the times you helped me with my biology homework," Lana said. "And other things, but I'm sure that I'll have a much better time than you, than someone else."

"Surely a lot of people asked you already," Clark said.

"Yeah, they have, but I turned them down," Lana said. She didn't forget that half of these bastards bullied her when she was younger and hadn't blossomed as much. "But, I figure that it's a lot better if I go to the dance with someone that I know and trust. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes," Clark told her.

"So, are you taking me?" Lana asked. She gave him a pair of big puppy dog eyes.

Clark considered it for a minute. "Sure, if you really want to go with me."

"I do, or I wouldn't have even brought up the subject," Lana said with a smile.

She thought about kissing Clark, but pulled away. That might be a bit too much, at least now. A date to the dance was a foundation she could build on.

"Thanks, Clark," Lana said. "I'll see you….well I'm sure that I'll see you before then. We do live up the road from each other, don't we?"

Lana thought that wasn't too hard. She got a date with Clark Kent. She would have skipped down the hallway.

'_To blatantly steal a phrase, face it Tigress, you just hit the Jackpot,' _Lana thought to herself, moving towards the next class with a renewed vigor.

Clark reprimanded himself when his eyes diverted briefly to Lana's swaying backside. He couldn't really go there, because if that started, he wouldn't be able to get it down for hours.

Super stamina did have a downside to be honest.

He did have a date, with the lovely Lana Lang. His neighbor, his friend, who he saw was growing in a very beautiful young woman. Clark had about a dozen different kinds of visions, so he wasn't blind.

Did she ask him out to the dance to get the other guys off of her back or ask him out to the dance out of genuine interest of being with him?

Clark felt a certain primal urge rose within him, but he closed his eyes and counted to ten. It faded, just barely.

He needed to speak with his biological parents soon because they were getting stronger. Super powered Kryptonians underneath the yellow sun over the long term had many variables unknown.

Right now, it was off to the next class, and he would hopefully figure this out after school.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	2. Chapter 2

Clark rushed back home after a day at school, his mind was running over. Emotions were complex enough he figured, at least before you factored super powers in. It was another thing all together with super powers.

Despite evidence to the contrary, Clark was not normal. That fact was proven when he sped half way across the county at the age of six years old to avoid his nightly bath. He amused himself with the fact that no one could escape the wrath of Martha Kent for all that long. That was amusing.

As amused as Clark was by how some of his powers came in, he had to get home and he had to get some answers. The crystals found on his ship had artificial intelligent copies of his birth parents. It answered so many questions, but explained so very many more.

Clark returned to the farm. His parents were in town on an errand for some reason. He could see that the truck was gone.

He slipped into the barn. Normal was not something that he would ever be, and perhaps he should start embracing this.

Clark slid open the box in the barn. The crystals hummed to life and a flash of light could be seen.

The crystal was only geared to be seen by Clark and the image flickering from the crystal could only be heard by Clark, unless there was a need for someone else to see the crystal. It was on a frequency that could not be heard by anyone but someone with super powered hearing. Clark ran his hand through the top of his head and smiled.

"Kal-El, how may I help you?" the beautiful blonde woman asked when she showed up at the crystal.

"I have a problem, and I can't make heads or tails out of it," Clark said. He looked at his birth mother, Lara, who appeared in a holographic form. Her crystal was geared to create a holographic duplicate. "And I hate to keep asking you questions, but….."

"Questions are the gateway to knowledge, and it is the only way for you learn," Jor-El piped up with a firm tone of voice.

"Yes, you shouldn't be afraid to ask," Lara told him. "We created these crystals to answer all of the questions regarding your powers."

"Well, I've been having these strange feelings around women," Clark said. It almost sounded rather childish.

"It is perfectly natural to feel such urges around women, Kal-El," Jor-El lectured. "I believe humans commonly refer to this process as puberty."

"That should have hit years ago first of all," Lara interjected. Her husband was very Spock in some of his observations. She eyed into her son. "And there is something else, isn't there?"

"Yes," Clark said in a calm tone. He chose his words carefully. "Around women, I've been getting stronger urges. I've been wanting to take them and make them mine in some kind of primal way. I can't really explain it….."

"You wish to throw them down and mate with them straight away," Lara said crisply. "Make them yours, regardless of whether they want it or not."

"Okay, that sounds a bit creepy when you talk about it that way," Clark informed her.

"Yes, by the standards of humanity, it could be considered creepy," Jor-El agreed. "Krypton spent generations attempting to remove the sexual component from their culture. The Council maintained that those who were born through natural methods were considered deviants and thus capable of mass destruction. A scientific method of creation was required, with previously arranged marriage. Couples were considered to be nothing more of a means to create and raise a child for a role in the future of Krypton."

"So, in other words, all you were dealing with is a bunch of clones?" Clark asked.

"Essentially, one could make that distinction, and eventually, Krypton stagnated," Jor-El informed him. "The House of El was one of the more progressive houses. My grandfather started to question the Council. He was silenced and censored for his radical thinking. My father was a bit more subtle, keeping his research under wraps. None of them dared defy the Council's thinking more directly than I did."

Clark didn't see father being the rebel type.

"It is not a matter of rebellion, my son, but rather a matter of improving the planet," Jor-El added. "You weren't the only child that was born through the natural means in the past five hundred years. And you would have been stronger on or off of Krypton rather."

"The history lesson aside, your human ideals are clashing hard with your alien biology," Lara said. "It was fortunate that the Kents found you. You couldn't have had a better upbringing. You could have been found by someone willing to exploit your gifts for profit or worse."

Clark nodded. Or the government could have found him. That was also a potentially bad thing for him.

"What's happening to me?" Clark asked. He decided to be blunt and to the point. "What if I….well become the very thing that someone like me needs to get put down?"

"Your human ideals are strong, since it hasn't happened yet," Lara said. "It is not good for your health though to try and hold these urges in."

"It….."

"And self-gratification does not work anymore, does it?" Lara asked him. She really did feel for her son in the situation that he is.

"It barely works," Clark commented. He couldn't believe that he was having this conversation. It caused him to grow slightly more nervous the more that he talked about it.

"Your powers are unprecedented, the long term effects of a Kryptonian underneath a yellow sun have not been properly deduced," Jor-El informed his son. "There was one person who may have been in a position to tell you though."

"On Krypton?" Clark asked. "I thought that I was the last survivor of the planet. There's no one….."

Clark could hear a car pull up the driveway. Was it his parents or was it someone else?

"You don't need to as much suppress your urges, but rather find someone to help you temper them," Lara said. "You may find that you have more volunteers than you think. Do you understand me, my son?"

"Yes, Mother, I do," Clark said back to her.

"Good, you have more hope than your father did at that age," Lara said.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Jor-El asked. Why she would ask a question like this.

Clark slid the crystals back into the box and went out to see that his father's truck was home. They had supplies back from town, so he moved in to help them.

* * *

Lana returned home from cheerleading practice and she sighed. Her aunt was out, which it left the entire house to her.

It was so boring to have this entire big house to herself alone and a bit unsettling. Lana mentally flashed back to the day at was. It was really a spur in the moment decision, but she had Clark right now.

Lana stripped off her uniform. She stood in her bedroom, wearing nothing but a black bra and panties.

She winced when she took a misstep. She needed a nice hot bath this afternoon, just to soak and relax her muscles. Lana shrugged off her bra and panties.

The girl made her way into the bathtub, her breasts bouncing when she walked. Her toned body was on full display, with a small red strip of hair shaven between her legs. Her toned ass and legs showed how much she worked out as well.

Lana climbed into the bathtub and she dropped down. The water relaxed her muscles. She threw her red hair back and leaned back against the tub.

The look Clark gave her when she had him trapped against the locker went through Lana's mind the more that she thought about it. It looked like that she saw her in an entirely new light. Lana's fingers brushed down between her legs when she thought about what he could do to her. The thought of him turning the tables for a little bit turned her on.

"Yes, Clark, that's the spot," Lana breathed. She rubbed herself between her legs. She imagined herself mounting him cowgirl style on the floor and having fun with him. In her imagination, he was so big that it would hurt.

Then he had his way with her from behind. Her breathing intensified when she started to rub her nipples as well.

Lana's mind shifted through a second, even naughtier scenario. She saw herself surrounded by female flesh, many of them her fellow cheerleaders. It was a sinful display and Clark was right in the middle of it. There were other women joining.

She jolted herself at her imaginings suddenly at a knock on the door. Lana lifted her fingers up and it was covered in her sticky juices.

"Lana, dear, I'm home!"

Lana shook her head. She had no idea where that came from. She had Clark on her mind and she had Cheerleading on her mind. She was just in practice for almost two hours.

She closed her eyes, and got up to her feet. She cleaned herself up and grabbed the clean clothes, pulling them back on.

* * *

It was the day after Lana asked Clark out and three days before the Harvest Dance. Clark Kent was late again as per usual, although even though he would show up just in time. Lana frowned when she wondered why someone would cut it so close.

She saw Clark get up at the crack of dawn to do chores.

Lana was half paying attention to what she was doing, when a girl almost ran into her from behind, tripping over her feet.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were there," Lana said in an extremely apologetic voice. She leaned down and grabbed the girl around the hand, helping her up to her feet.

"No, that's not a problem, honestly, it's not a problem."

Lana caught a look at the girl. She had dark hair and a gorgeous face, with bright green eyes. She wore a nice white tank top that stretched over a perky pair of breasts. One could notice that she wore an amulet which looked like some kind of symbol that symbolized water on it. She wore a nice pair of jeans stretched over her legs, although she looked awkward on her feet.

"I wasn't watching my back, I should be watching by back," Lana said. She could see the girl walking a bit awkwardly. "Are you okay?"

"No, well, yes, well no, I mean kind of," the brunette stammered. "I swear, I was given two left feet sometime…..wait, you're Lana Lang, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," Lana said. "And you are….."

"Lori, Lori Lemaris," she said, shaking Lana's hand.

"Oh, you're on the swim team for Smallville High, aren't you?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, I transferred in last semester, just in time to join the team," Lori said.

"You seem far more graceful in the water," Lana informed her. Lori shrugged her shoulders in response.

She could see Clark making his way down the hallway.

"Oh, hi, Clark," Lori said with a smile on her face.

"Lori, hey, how are you doing?" Clark asked her.

"You two know each other?" Lana asked.

"We share a couple of periods together," Lori told Lana and Lana nodded, that made a perfect amount of sense. "Well, if Clark's just coming down the hallway, I must be running late."

Lana couldn't help, but laugh. Lori hit it in the button for sure. "Yeah, Clark, you've been cutting it close a lot as of late, haven't you?"

"See, you later, Clark, Lana," Lori said with a smile, flipping her hair back.

"Seems like you have a lot of fans, Clark," Lana whispered, in a teasing voice. Clark raised an eyebrow at her. "I know, you're friends but….let's face it, I'm lucky to have snagged you."

Clark shook his head when Lana leaned closer towards him. He caught a whiff of her hair once again.

"You seem to be in a chipper mood this morning," Clark said to her. Lana placed her finger on his chest and smiled.

"Oh, I've had some pretty pleasant dreams last night," Lana answered, with a grin. "And you're pretty early this morning. What's the occasion anyway?"

"I needed to talk to you before class," Clark said.

"Okay," Lana answered. She placed her hands onto her hips and looked him into the eyes. "You aren't having second thoughts about the entire dance thing, are you?"

Clark blinked and started to shake his head. "Oh, no, I'm not."

"Good," Lana said. She allowed herself to sigh when she looked into his eyes. "So, what do you need to talk to me about?"

"You might have noticed that there was something weird about me," Clark informed her.

Lana didn't know what to say about that. "Define weird….especially in Smallville, that has a bit of an obtuse definition."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Clark said.

"The meteor mutants, the mysterious savior that has been rushing in and saving people, and just a lot of oddness, do you really think that I'm blind to that?" Lana asked. "Just because a lot of the adults are adopting a "shut up and don't ask questions" approach, doesn't mean that a lot of us here aren't going to ask questions."

"Well, I'm sure that you have some questions but…" Clark said. He paused for a second. He was considering this. He was going to tell her, but how much was he going to tell her? The first bell started to ring.

Lana could sense Clark stop in mid tracks. It was obvious that he didn't want to have this conversation with this many people around and Lana could respect that. "Why don't you tell me after school?"

"After school?" Clark asked. Lana nodded. "That sounds great….."

"Great, I'll swing by," Lana said. She was wondering about what Clark had to say to her. "See you then."

"You won't regret it," Clark said. He grabbed Lana suddenly and on an impulse, kissed her.

By the time Lana was able to react to this, Clark was gone and she realized that she was late for class.

So worth it though, Lana would be replaying that kiss in her mind all day. It was brief, but intense. It was almost like she wasn't sure whether or not she imagined it.

It did happen though, it really did happen.

* * *

Clark returned back to the barn later that afternoon. Lana should be swinging by any minute, she didn't have cheerleader practice today.

He wondered if he was thinking clearly, laying all of his cards out on the table like this. Clark thought that things were getting harder to conceal. His parents had theories about what he was becoming, but the field of super powered Kryptonians was something that very few people understood.

Clark didn't really have much to lose by telling her. He lifted his mother's crystal out of the box.

"So ,you're going to tell her, aren't you?" Lara asked him.

"You sound like you disapprove of this," Clark said. Lara might have been a bit easier to read than Jor-El, but there were times where Clark misinterpreted her emotions.

"No, on the contrary, I do approve of what you're doing," Lara said. "Kal, I won't lie, this isn't a black and white situation. You should be yourself, but the world might not be ready to accept who you truthfully are."

"Well the world can wait for now," Clark said.

"Tell Lana, and see what happens," Lara said. "But more people are becoming aware of your heroics."

"I was sent here for a greater purpose," Clark reminded her. "That's what you and Father said. Where is he anyway?"

"Jor-El says that this is not his forte," Lara admitted. That might be putting it mildly. "He is more equipped to answer questions about the scientific aspects of your powers, rather than the emotion aspects of your powers. And the sexual aspects….we shouldn't forget those."

"I didn't really need to have it heard put that way," Clark said. He frowned.

Lara shook her head. Her son's values made him really noble. Almost too noble sometimes, and they clashed worse of all with the alien biology. If he could find a balance with the best of both worlds, Kal would be really be something.

"Sex is a natural part of the evolution process, regardless of the species," Lara said to him. "Krypton tried to eliminate that natural connection and our society decayed. By the time anyone realized that, it was too late."

Clark nodded. He could hear the footsteps of Lana when she made her way up the driveway.

"Best of luck and I know that you've made the right decision with what you're saying," Lara informed him.

Clark slid the crystal back into the box. He really wished that he had some better way to handle this, some kind of Fortress out of the middle of nowhere.

He turned and saw Lana standing there. She dressed in a jean jacket because of the autumn weather, a nice white top with a couple of buttons tastefully unbuttoned, and a skirt that went a few inches past her thighs, along with a pair of high heel boots. Lana tied her hair back into a ponytail.

"So, you wanted to talk to me, here I am," Lana said. She wondered if either of them were going to address the elephant in the room that was the kiss.

Clark extended his hand. Lana raised her eyebrow and thought about what she was doing for a second. She took it and Clark lead her up the stairs.

The two of them stood outside of an open window, leading out into Smallville.

"Okay, I like the view," Lana admitted. "Even if I've seen it about thirty times before, I still like the view."

Clark turned around to sigh and Lana smiled. She really liked the view now. Was that perverted of her to say that? She couldn't tell.

"I spent a lot of time up here, you know," Clark said. "Just thinking about why I was put on this world."

"That's oddly philosophical of you, Clark," Lana said. She wondered where this was going.

"And that's more literal than you could ever guess," Clark informed her. "I know that you've noticed that there's something…"

"Different, yeah, I know that there's something different about you," Lana said. She placed her finger on Clark's lips. "That means that you're not the same old carbon copy of everyone else in school. I like that, it makes you unique."

"There's something that you need to know, I'm not from around here," Clark said.

"Oh, well….I know that you're adopted," Lana said. She figured that Clark would be born somewhere else, outside of Smallville. Was there even an orphanage in Smallville? It might have been shut down a long time ago if there was.

"It's something more than that," Clark told her. "It's complicated, but I recently got in touch of with my birth parents."

"Oh, you did?" Lana asked. She was oddly calm at this. "And did they have a good reason to give you up?"

"Yes, they died," Clark told her.

That little statement caused Lana to blink and she wondered if she heard Clark right. "Oh….but how can you get in touch with them…if they're dead?"

Lana shook her head. This was a bit too weird for her tastes to be honest. She tapped her finger against the side of Clark's head.

"Explain, please, Clark," Lana prompted and Clark explained.

"They left me something behind, that I found," Clark said. He looked into her eyes. "It told me a lot about my heritage and my birthright."

"Well, it's good that you found out," Lana said. "What is like a detailed journal or something? You know, it was almost like meeting your parents even though if you didn't meet them at all."

"Yes," Clark agreed. That was about was good enough of an explanation as any. "But, there's something else."

"What?" Lana asked.

"Should I show you?"

Lana nodded, biting down on her lip. She wondered what she was going to see. She watched Clark speed down the steps and a blink of an eye later, he returned with a box of chocolates for her.

"Oooh, my favorite," Lana said. She snapped back to life. "Wait a minute, did you just run at the speed of light?"

"No, I didn't run at the speed of light," Clark informed her. "I ran faster than a speeding bullet."

"That explains so very much," Lana said. She wanted to slam the palm of her hand onto her face. "And…."

Clark used his heat vision to light the candles around them. Lana didn't know whether it was rude for her to clap or not.

"So, you can shoot fire from your eyes and run at the speed of light….faster than a speeding bullet," Lana said, quickly amending herself. "What else do you have?"

"Well, I have X-Ray vision," Clark said. That caused Lana to fold her arms and looked into his eyes.

"So, you can see through clothes?" Lana asked.

"Yes," Clark said. "And other things as well….but not lead for some reason."

"But you can see through clothes, right?" Lana asked.

"Yes, I can see through clothes," Clark replied with an exasperated sigh.

Lana looked at him with a mischievous grin on her face. "So, did you peak?"

"What, no," Clark said. It was temping.

"Oh, that's too bad," Lana said. "But that takes the challenge out of things, doesn't it?"

"If you say so, Lana," Clark said. Lana smiled, and shook her head. He picked up a large iron bar, and handed it to her.

"What am I supposed to do this?" Lana asked.

"Hit me with it, as hard as you can," Clark said.

Lana raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure about that Clark?"

"Come on Lana, you won't hurt me," Clark encouraged her.

"Clark, this is…" Lana said.

Clark interrupted her. "I don't think that you'll hurt me. After all, you hit like a girl."

That caused Lana's eyes to widen. This was what Clark wanted. Lana swung for the fences and cracked Clark against the chest with the iron bar. It bent into a pretzel against his chest.

"Damn," Lana whispered. She couldn't believe that she just did that.

"Not a scratch," Clark said. He removed his shirt and pulled it off. "Want to make sure?"

"Yes," Lana said, she absent mindedly ran her hand over his chest. She couldn't feel any bruising, any scratches. He should have had a few broken ribs.

Lana kept running her hands down Clark's abs and chest. It was getting amusing, and Lana's hands were drifting a bit lower the more that she looked at him.

"I think you've verified that I don't have any injuries," Clark said. Lana pulled away from him. Her cheeks reddened when she realized that she used this impromptu medical examination as an excuse to feel Clark up.

"So, did you get these powers through the meteor shower?" Lana asked him. "Or is there more?"

"A few more," Clark said. "I can fly."

"Of course, you can fly," Lana answered. She placed her hand on her hip. "Do you want me to push you out this window to verify that?"

"Depends, do you want to, Lana?" Clark asked.

"If you leave me in the middle of a hallway one more time and make me late for class by kissing me, I just might," Lana said. She backed Clark off a bit, where he was standing outside of the window. "I don't know what you're afraid of. You can fly, you can use heat vision, you can't get hurt, you can run pretty fast. You can see through the clothes of any girl you want, even if you choose not to."

Clark thought that Lana pretty much nailed him full on.

"I'm not a meteor mutant," Clark said.

"No, it's fine Clark, if you are, I don't mind….whatever you are," Lana said.

"Well, what about if I'm an alien from another planet?" Clark asked her.

Lana blinked. It took her a few seconds to reconcile that. It wasn't as far-fetched as it might seen. In fact, given everything she knew about Clark that made a lot of sense.

"I didn't get my powers from the meteor shower," Clark continued.

"But, you did come…..in the meteor shower," Lana said. She blinked when her brain took some time to process this. "So, aliens do look just like us, and aren't just little grey or green men?"

"If you want to put it that way," Clark replied. "So, what do you think?"

Lana grabbed Clark and pushed him against the wall. Clark felt her tongue invade his mouth with a kiss. He returned the kiss with an equal amount of ever. The two of them exchanged the kiss for as long as they would dare to.

"If that doesn't answer your question, you are pretty dense," Lana said. She smiled when she drummed her fingers over her still bare chest.

She frowned when she felt something hard poke against her thigh.

"Clark Kent," Lana said, raising her eyebrow.

"Lana, I…"

Lana brushed her hand down his abs and slowly worked her way down. Her fingers fiddled with the waist band on his pants.

"Oh, is that for me?" Lana asked him. Her smile widened when she pressed her hand against his growing length. The redhead felt it in her hand, squeezing and playing with it. "Damn, Clark, you're really fucking throbbing."

"Lana," Clark groaned. He couldn't hold himself back much longer. Especially when Lana had her hand pressed on him like that. Her soft grip was pretty much unbearable.

"You need some relief, Clark," Lana whispered in his ear.

"I can't control myself, Lana, I don't want to hurt you," Clark managed. He continued to feel Lana's hand slowly rotate around him.

"Clark, I'm here for you, it's fine," Lana whispered soothingly in his ear. She kissed the side of his neck lightly. She nibbled his ear in response. "If you want me, take me. I've been throwing myself at you almost all summer, or didn't you notice that?"

"Yes," Clark groaned. He could feel her play with him over and over again. He could feel his loins expand and his pants became really uncomfortable.

"Oh, that looks tight," Lana said. She pulled down his pants slowly. Lana didn't want to rip them off.

"Do you really want your first time to be in a barn?" Clark asked.

"I want my first time to be with you, I don't fucking care where it is," Lana said. She squeezed him firmly to get his attention.

Clark groaned and he wondered what kind of Pandora's box he was opening. It was almost like his own inhumane and carnal desire was spilling over towards her.

"Lana," Clark groaned. Lana slowly pulled down his pants with a smile on her face.

"Yes, Clark," Lana said sweetly. She looked innocent, but she wasn't fooling him for a second. "You have a little problem, don't you?"

"Yes," Clark groaned. She squeezed him, teasing him once again. "I don't know how long I can hold back."

"Then don't, Clark," Lana said, removing his pants the rest of the way. She licked her lips, moistening them. "I want to make you feel better. Isn't that what a good neighbor does?"

Lana had him completely out and Clark grabbed the back of her head and made her look up towards him.

"The time for teasing is done," Clark said. The intensity flashing through his eyes caused Lana's thighs to stick together. The firmness of his force caused her nipples to harden against her top. "Either you're going to do this, or…."

"Oh, I can do this," Lana said. She saw what she had to work with in all of her glory. She wasn't sure how long it was, but it was pretty long and pretty thick as well. "Martha feeds you well, Clark. You've been a growing boy."

"Well, I'm about to feed you something," Clark said. He ran his hands through Lana's hair. "Unless you think that you can handle it."

Lana looked at him. She would be lying if she didn't admit she was the least bit intimidating.

"I'll show you, farm boy," Lana said, squeezing his balls in her hand. Her tongue touched the edge of him.

Clark groaned when he felt himself seconds away entering into heaven. That heaven was the beautiful mouth that was inches away from his penis. Her hot breath touched his tip.

Lana had something to prove now and she would be damned if she backed off now.

* * *

Lana was completely worn out after what happened. Clark had scooped her up into his arms and ran her across to her room. She was in bed as fast as she realized.

"Amazing," Lana said with a goofy grin on her face. "So, same time after school tomorrow?"

Clark shook his head when he looked at her.

Lana winced when she sat up. She did still have feeling in her legs, which was a good thing.

"And before you guilt trip yourself, no this isn't your fault, it's mine, for pushing myself too far," Lana said. That was the story of her life. This wasn't nearly as bad as she pushed herself into a heat stroke to win the big track meet in the eighth grade. And the third place finish she got with that heat stroke was not nearly as good as the finish that Clark gave her.

"I'll see you in the morning, Lana," Clark said. He leaned over and gave her a goodbye kiss. "Goodnight."

Lana blinked and he was gone. Faster than a speeding bullet, but thankfully he could slow down when it counted.

Yes, thankfully, that was the thought that went through her mind when she drifted off to sleep.

**To Be Continued. **

* * *

**A little birdie told me that a more extended version of this chapter may be found at a website that is an Archive of their Own, or an Adult Version of Fan Fiction that is an org, instead of a Net. If you catch my drift. Story name is the same, penname is the same. **


	3. Chapter 3

Sometimes things happened for a reason and sometimes things happened for very spontaneous reasons. Clark Kent was going to wager a guess what reason this happened for, at least in his opinion. The young man made his way outside early the next morning.

Did he expect something like this to happen with Lana? Well, she was dropping some pretty not so unsubtle hints. The fact that him being an alien from another planet was not a deal breaker really did say a lot about her. Clark wondered why he didn't tell her a long time ago.

He remembered the saying though, a secret shared was a secret lost. At least that's what his father told him, but this was Lana and Clark felt that he knew her long enough.

Clark wanted to check up on Lana this morning through. He did leave her in a pretty battered state.

It turned out that he didn't need to knock on the door. Said door swung open and Lana went outside. She nearly smacked into Clark.

"Oh, Clark, sorry," Lana said. She winced when she nearly smacked into his shoulder and the coffee and breakfast she was holding slipped from her grip.

Clark caught it instantly and made sure that Lana was okay, before handing it off to her.

"So, last night," Lana said, once the two of them moved away from the house. "It wasn't an elaborate fantasy that my hormone addled mind cooked up, was it?"

Clark smiled back at her. That smile took on an entirely new meaning to Lana after what they did last night. "Well, if that was the case, then our minds were capable of cooking up some really interesting things."

"Not a dream then," Lana said. She supposed that both of them could cook up the same fantasy, but the odds were really minor and outlandish.

It was possible.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked her.

"I'm a little sore," Lana admitted with a smile. She leaned forward and gave Clark a reassuring kiss. "But, the pain is pretty much worth anything."

Lana blinked suddenly and she had a question on the tip of her tongue. Her lips curled up and her frown deepened. This had been something that she had been thinking about all night.

"Clark, do you think that I can ask you a pretty personal question?" Lana asked. Clark raised his eyebrow and nodded in response. Lana smiled and launched herself into the explanation of the question. "Last night, you pretty much lasted the distance."

"Sorry, it took so long," Clark said. The look on Lana's face was priceless.

Lana wanted to laugh, but she decided that given the situation, she shouldn't. "Never apologize for that…..but I should have figured that with super powers, you would have super….well everything else."

"That's one way to put it," Clark agreed. That's what his mother told him, more or less.

"So, you're going to need…..constant relief," Lana suggested. Clark nodded in response. "And I might not be able to hit that grind every day."

Clark was about ready to respond to something that Lana was going to say. She raised her hand up and pretty much blocked what he was going to say.

"And, that's more my fault than yours," Lana said. "You know how much of a competitive bitch I can be."

"I don't think that I would go that far," Clark offered her. Lana looked into his eyes and smiled when she looked at him.

"Clark, I would go that far, trust me," Lana told him. She touched the top of his shoulder. "If we're going to have a relationship, we're going to need to call in reinforcements every now and then. I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I left you hanging."

"Are you trying to say….." Clark replied.

"It pains me about as much as you think to know that I really can't hold up and fulfill your needs every single day," Lana said. She smirked. "But, you should know that I'm not giving up."

"There is something to said about the value of teamwork," Clark offered Lana. She gave him a toothy grin in response and leaned forward, tagging him with a blistering kiss.

"Exactly," Lana agreed. She touched her hand to the side of her hip. "And team work is what we're going to need if we're going to make this work. But only girls that we both feel comfortable with."

"That seems very fair," Clark informed her.

"And girls that we can trust bringing in on your not so little secret, and no I'm not referring to what you've gotten hidden in those baggy pants," Lana said. Her tone was suggestive. "After all, if we're doing this entire shadow harem thing, we need to be discrete with anything. Thankfully, I have a pretty good idea what girls can be trusted to keep secrets. Call it a sixth sense, but it's only if you're on board with it."

"It might be a matter of necessity," Clark suggested to her.

"That's about what I figured," Lana told him.

"So, do you want me to walk you to school?" Clark asked her.

"Yes, we might as well, it would give us more of the morning to talk about things," Lana said. She frowned. "Unless one of the things happen that ends up throwing you off and it makes you late for school."

"I'm going to try and not to let that happen," Clark said. Lana gave him the most obvious look of disbelief imaginable.

"Might be out of your hands," Lana said. Never the less, she locked hands with her boyfriend. "Just going to have to trust that we're lucky enough."

Lana would have to say that she got pretty lucky last night. She didn't want to jinx herself through, because things could turn around.

Thankfully, there was no misfortune on his way to school. Clark thought that was good enough. The crime rate in the formally sleepy little town of Smallville was going higher because of the added meteor mutants. It was harder to ignore that problem and harder for Clark to remain under the radar.

Not to mention it was much harder for Smallville to remain under the radar.

* * *

Lana had a free period coming up and she was just thinking about the conversation that she and Clark had this morning. Adding a few girls into the group might seem to be a bit odd, but then again being an alien from another planet was a bit odd.

The problem was that not just anyone could have been added to the group. Lana was heading off to swing by and check in with someone who might be able to help her and Clark make that choice. Also, she was someone that could be potentially added to the group.

Lana pushed open the doors to the Smallville Torch. It was a large utility room that had been converted out when the utility room was converted.

The redhead cheerleader slowly made her way inside. She made her way to a frazzled looking blonde, who wore glasses and had her hair tied back. She wore a blouse that showed a moderate amount of cleavage along with a pair of tight blue jeans.

"Hey, Chloe, can I have a word with you for a minute?"

"Oh, hey, Lana," Chloe said. She was looking through some things. The radio station was going in the background, but it was almost on mute. "Sit down, I'll be with you in a second."

Lana slid over and sat down in front of Chloe.

"And on your lunch break today, we have a list of who's hot and who's not, leading up to the Harvest Dance," an obnoxiously high pitched voice said over the radio. "And how many of them might be gay. We'll find out, but right now, some of the hottest new amateur bands on the official Smallville High station, Livewire!"

"Seriously," Lana muttered underneath her breath. "Talk about your lack of tact."

"It's Leslie Willis, she's the queen of having no tact whatsoever," Chloe answered her. "I still don't who thought it was a good idea for a high school in the middle of bumfuck nowhere to have their own radio station."

"That's one of life's grand mysteries, isn't it?" Lana asked. "How did Willis get on the air anyway? I swear every time that bitch opens her mouth, a newborn kitten dies."

"Well, she has an uncle that is pretty high up on the schoolboard," Chloe answered.

"Ah, nepotism, figures about as much," Lana said.

"What did you need?" Chloe asked. "I mean, I do have a free period right here, but…you don't normally swing by this part of the school unless you need to drop off something from the office."

"Can't I visit my best female friend?" Lana asked.

"Well yeah, but I've been busy and you've been busy this year, and we've been busy with different things," Chloe said. She looked at Lana. "And you've been busy pursing Clark."

"I know you have a crush on him," Lana said.

"I had a crush on him," Chloe corrected her. "And given that you asked him to the school dance, as your friend, I'm very happy for you. It's about time someone pulled his head out of his ass and it's a good thing that you were the one to do it."

"Hey, it was just the matter of having the right timing," Lana answered. She smiled at her. "You know, things have worked out really well."

"How well?" Chloe asked her. She frowned. Then suddenly she looked at Lana. "Look whatever happens in your personal life is your business."

"That's good, you're not going to pry, but I trust that you won't," Lana said. "I had some trouble walking around this morning after Clark had his fun with me."

"Okay, that was a bit more than I really needed to know," Chloe answered. She frowned deeply. That was far more than she honestly needed to know.

"Sorry about that," Lana said. "It's just that…..I think that I hit the jackpot."

"You did, I'm sure," Chloe said. She looked over her shoulder. This conversation was taking a turn for the slightly awkward and she half expected some kind of hidden camera to come out and punk her. She was ninety five percent sure. "But, you won the race."

"Actually, I think that Clark might be a little bit too much for me to handle," Lana said. "Still sore a little bit after last night."

Chloe was intrigued at this.

"I'm sure that you can just step up your game, that's what you always do," Chloe answered.

"Actually, this will take some more than stepping up my game," Lana informed her. Chloe raised an eyebrow. "And I was hoping that I can trust you to help me. I know Clark trusts you…"

"Yeah, he does," Chloe answered. There were a few weird things that she figured out about Clark, but she decided not to tell anyone about it, or confront him about it. In case she was wrong for one thing and also because she didn't want to betray his friendship.

"So, do you think that can you help me?" Lana asked.

"Define help," Chloe said with a surprised glance in her eyes.

"Well, I'm sure that you still have feelings for Clark, even if you're going to the be the bigger girl around it," Lana answered.

"Well, I think the ship's…..wait a minute," Chloe said. She nearly whacked her head when she leaned back. Lana held her chair to prevent her from tipping back in it. "Are you trying to pimp your boyfriend out to me?"

"You make it sound so awful when you put it like that," Lana informed Chloe. Chloe raised her eyebrow and her gaze penetrated Lana's.

"That didn't answer my question," Chloe replied.

"No, I just need some help for reasons….that I'll allow Clark to explain to you, if you agree to help out," Lana said. "And I'm not pimping my boyfriend out, I'm giving this to you for free."

"Oh, that makes things that much better," Chloe replied. "And am I the only girl that you gave this offer to?"

"You'd be first in line, Chlo, trust me," Lana said with a smile.

"You know, I'm pretty sure we're breaking some kind of sacred code of the high school talking about something like this," Chloe said. "And I don't mean the entire pimping your boyfriend out thing."

"I am not pimping Clark out," Lana said, nearly slapping the side of her head in absolute indignation. Sometimes Chloe was just impossible and she meant this in the nicest way possible. "Okay, I really aren't, but hear me out…"

"Hey, I kind of get what you're doing, it's fine," Chloe said. "But anyway, we are breaking some kind of sacred code of the schoolyard. The Head Cheerleader and the Head Nerd sharing the same guy. I'm pretty sure heads will roll if that one gets out."

"Which is why I can trust you to keep it discreet," Lana informed her.

"I'm sure that'd make us both look bad if it did, so you can consider discreet to be my middle name," Chloe said with a cheeky little grin. "And, have you staked out anyone else?"

"Well, as enticing as it is, a lot of my fellow cheerleaders are out, because they might not be able to keep a secret, and they're the type of girls that will bring trouble," Lana said. "But, Lori Lemaris might be a good choice."

"The one that's on the swim team?" Chloe asked, raising her eyebrow in surprise.

"The very same," Lana confirmed. "She looked to be giving Clark the eye the other way. She's top of her class."

"But, she's a bit clumsy," Chloe said. Lana gave her one of those looks. "Not that I have any room to talk, but, she is a lot better in the water than she is on land."

"Maybe, but I think that she can be trusted, if we bring her in," Lana said.

"Seems to me like you think that there's something different about Clark," Chloe said. Lana raised her eyebrow. Seems to me that you know that there's something different about Clark."

"Do you know anything, Chloe?" Lana asked.

"I know a lot of things, but I'm not sure if this is a discussion that we should be having when Clark is not present to tell his side," Chloe answered.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Lana agreed. "But, I'm sure that if you just think about it, we can find a way to include you."

Chloe wondered if she even think about taking this this bargain. Lana was attractive, and Clark was as well, and Chloe had a crush on Clark forever. This situation was getting fairly complicated and she knew something this good was going to have a catch.

Would it be worth the risk? That's what Chloe wondered.

* * *

Clark thought about the conversation that he had with Lana this morning. He realized that his girlfriend could be devious at times, but you didn't make it high up in the high school pecking order without being a little bit devious.

He was about to make his way up to the Torch office. Clark could hear the droning tones of Leslie Willis. To be fair, you didn't need to hear super hearing to hear her.

'_And I thought her particular brand of journalism went out with the 1990s,' _Clark thought to himself.

He nearly ran into a figure. He caught Chloe when he barely held her up. She nearly fell over when she slipped from Clark's grasp.

Thankfully for her, Clark was able to prevent Chloe from falling backwards. She breathed suddenly when she realized that Clark pulled her back up.

"Chloe, I was just looking for you," Clark commented lightly. He was casual.

"Yeah, and you just saved me from landing on my ass, so thank you, my hero," Chloe said. "Actually, I was just looking for you. Small world, isn't it?"

Clark smiled. "It's a very small world."

"If you start singing, I will hurt you, Clark Kent," Chloe warned him. Clark raised his eyebrow at her. That type of cheesy smile wasn't one that Chloe could be mad at forever. "Actually, I wanted to look over the article that we were working on together."

"I thought that you said the article was fine," Clark said.

"I think that there are just a couple of things that needed to be clarified," Chloe replied to him. Clark raised his eyebrow when he looked at her. "It's nothing that we can't go over together, we can head over to my house right after school. I'll drive, unless you have some place you'd rather be."

Clark could a text message from Lana no sooner than he said that.

**Sorry, Clark, cheerleader practice is going to run a bit late and I'm going to set up for the dance. **

"Well, guess, that anything with Lana is out the window," Clark said. He sent a text back to Lana in response.

**Okay, got to go over something with Chloe for the Torch. Will talk to you later then.**

Clark waited for a second and got the message back.

**Go for it, Clark. I'll join you two later.**

Perhaps it was Clark reading too much into certain things, for all of the reasons, but there was a certain suggestive nature to her go to it. Chloe leaned over and Clark snapped over towards her. His bright blue eyes met her hazel eyes with a sharp gaze. "Sorry….so she's okay with this, then."

"I'm sure that she is," Clark told to her. "I'm sure you found out that we're going to the harvest dance together."

"Yeah, congratulations, you two will look good together," Chloe said. "We had a conversation about that actually."

"Oh?" Clark asked. Color him curious, but he was honestly curious to see what Chloe and Lana talked about. "And might I ask…"

Chloe pressed her finger down onto Clark's lip to prevent him from speaking. She leaned closer towards him and whispered in his ear. "I'll tell you about it later, the walls have ears, you know."

Clark knew all about it, gossip in Smallville high could fly about as fast as a speeding bullet, to coin a phrase.

* * *

A bus pulled at the edge of the city of Smallville. The bus service didn't really run into Smallville, but there was a bus stop close enough to the edge where it really counted. It was actually a brisk little walk if one was willing to take it. And it was easily manageable unless the it was in the middle of the winter time and then it could be a bit of a nightmare to navigate.

A tall blonde made her way off of the bus. Her golden blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail. She wore a blue jean jacket and top, along with a red mini-skirt that flowed down her legs and a pair of red boots.

The blonde left the bus after paying her fair. It had been a disorienting last couple of years for her, but she was piecing things back together.

She had a good feeling about the place that was coming up. The shelter that took her in allowed her to get back on her feet and she was glad to get back on her feet. The sixteen year old girl was going to enroll into Smallville High School and get her education there, but she had enough money on her to take the trip to Smallville.

There was something she had to take care of and she had a good feeling about. There was a house that said "KENT" on it. She smiled when she approached the front of the house.

Did she mention that she had a really good feeling about this? It was two years ago where she was found wandering the countryside of Kansas, dazed and delirious, with no sense of where she was or more importantly who she was. There were glowing pieces of a rock next to her that made her sick.

She really knew no one here in Smallville, but she had to head to this place. She had a very good feeling about this place.

Walking up to the door, the statuesque blonde knocked on the door. She waited patiently, until the door opened. A kindly woman with red hair answered the door.

"Yes, can I help you, dear?" she asked the blonde.

"Excuse me, I'm new in town, and…..well I was looking for someone who might live here," the blonde said. There was a tentative tone in her voice, almost as if she was unsure about what she was getting herself into.

"Well, you seem to be lost, why don't you come in?" the woman asked. "And you are…."

"Linda….Linda Danvers," she said, after pausing. She remembered the name that the orphanage people gave her.

There was no record that she existed other than that. The burned out debris she had been found in the middle had been compensated.

"Come in Linda, I'm Martha Kent," she told her with a smile on her face.

"Oh, you live here with your husband?" she asked.

"Yes," Martha agreed. She wondered if the girl was a drifter of some sort or perhaps a runaway. "So, what brings you here?"

"I was just looking into this town, there's something about it that draws me here, it was like I've been here before," she answered. "And I thought about enrolling into Smallville High School."

"It's a good place for such a small town," Martha told the girl with a warm smile. Said girl responded extremely nervously with a smile of her own. "Linda, where are your parents?"

"Dead," Linda told her with a frown. "I was in a home for a while, but I left after earning enough money to board the bus to get to Smallville."

She held her bag in her hands. Something slipped out. Linda pulled it into her hand and mused when she looked at it.

"What's that, honey?" Martha asked.

"Just a picture that I had, it was one of the only things that I had," Linda offered with a frown on her face.

Martha didn't mean to pry with it. "Sorry, I didn't mean to….."

"No, it's fine, you didn't know, wish I knew actually," Linda said. There was something horrifically wrong that went with her. She had nightmares of a village falling around her, but it was hazy.

Linda placed the picture on the table. She frowned, wishing that there was something that she could figure out. Martha looked at the picture when she set down the pie and juice for Linda.

"You look dead on your feet…" Martha said. She stopped when she got a good look at the young child in the picture.

"Is there a problem?" Linda asked.

"No, he just resembles my son Clark when he was young," Martha said. She wondered what was going on here.

Could this girl be some kind of family? Martha could see that she exhibited no extraordinary powers whatsoever, at least from what she saw. But it was best to keep an eye on her.

It was likely that the girl honestly didn't remember. Martha's frown deepened the more that she watched over this girl.

There were so many questions, more than answers that she had. Martha was under the impression that Clark was the only survivor. She had discussed things with Lara a few times and she wondered if it was time to have another conversation, mother to mother.

The sound of Jonathan's truck pulling up could be heard.

"If you'd like, you can stay here," Martha said.

"I wouldn't want to be a burden to you or your husband," Linda responded.

"It's no burden at all, if you like, you can help around the house, until you get on your feet, until you find yourself," Martha said.

Linda frowned deeply. She had been trying to find herself for almost two years. That hadn't really gone as well as she planned.

* * *

Chloe ran through her mind. There were a million things that she expected, but she could never imagine that Clark told her what he told her.

"That's pretty much essentially what I told, Lana," Clark said. Chloe frowned, when she cupped her hand underneath her chin.

"And you trust me with this one," Chloe said. Clark gazed into her eyes and Chloe shifted her gaze when she looked at Clark. "I know that you think the best of people…"

"I think the best of you," Clark said. "And Lana….and…..well we'll just go from there."

"Wow, that had to be about as much of a shock to you," Chloe answered. "Even if with all of the strange things going on, you would have thought meteor mutant. It seems like that you've run into them every third week around this town. And a lot of them have lost their minds."

Chloe closed her eyes and added as an afterthought. "With great power, there must also come great insanity."

"I'm not sure how accurate that statement is," Clark said. Chloe grinned when she picked up the phone and it was Lana. "Hey, Lana, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, just stuck here, apparently we're going to be here a bit later," Lana said. "They ordered the wrong kind of decorations and it's just a big mess that we need to sort out."

"Thus comes the great responsibility of being a cheerleader," Chloe said. She was half teasing Lana.

"I'm really thinking about resigning," Lana said.

"Oh come on, Lana, we both know that you're never going to quit anything," Chloe stated. She was calling Lana's bluff. "I mean, given how hard you worked to get to the top, and you're going to really let something like this get you down."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not going to let a bunch of uptight bitches get the better of me," Lana said, her voice sounding more chipper.

"That's the spirit," Chloe cheered with a wide smile on her face.

"Just make sure to take good care of Clark tonight, because I might not be back until the morning," Lana replied. She frowned. "Is he still hanging out in your place?"

"Well, we went over the article, and we're going over some other research," Chloe said. Lana pretty much understood what research meant. It was a code word for something or other. "I'm sure you'll get it done and Clark and I can hang out."

Chloe handed Clark the cell phone. "If I don't see you until tomorrow…"

"Don't worry about me, I can find my own way home," Lana said. "Make sure to treat Chloe good or I'll know."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do anything less," Clark said with a smile.

Clark handed Chloe back the phone and Chloe decided to say her goodbyes. The blonde's eyes shifted into a mischievous glint when she locked eyes with Clark.

"So, Lana discussed that she might not be able to handle this on her own," Chloe answered him, with a smile. She placed her hand more daringly that she thought on her chest. "And I'm surprised that she conceded defeat that easily."

"Are you in?" Clark asked.

"Depends," Chloe offered. She didn't want to sound too needy, because no one really liked that. "It honestly depends on what you have to offer for me. "If you want me to get in, I'll be in all the way and if you don't…..well I'm gone."

Chloe ran her hand down the center of Clark's thigh and slowly worked her way between his legs.

"I think that it's just obvious that I need a bit of a test run before I'm all in," Chloe said. She slowly pulled down his pants, but paused. "Well, aren't you going to kiss me?"

Chloe thought that she bit off a bit more than she could chew. Clark pulled her in close to her and wrapped his arms around her. The lithe blonde felt his strong arms wrap around her and pull her into a smoldering kiss.

Their tongues tangled together with some kind of dance of desire. Clark pushed her back onto her own bed and pinned her wrists behind the back of her head.

Chloe could feel something oddly primal and hot about this entire situation. Speaking of hot, the area between her legs was getting hot.

"Well, show me what you got," Chloe said. Her confidence was faltering a little bit and Clark pressed his mouth against the side of her neck.

She groaned, that was a sensitive spot for her and she was pretty sure that Clark figured that out. His able mouth kept kissing down the side of her neck and suckling on the amazing pulse point. Chloe closed her eyes tightly and felt the rush. Her nipples grew immensely hard the more that Clark lavished the side of her neck. This felt amazing beyond all belief.

Chloe's loins felt like they were on fire. She needed Clark between her legs in the worst was imaginable. She didn't know how long she was going to hold out if she didn't get him. All she knew was that she needed him down.

"Do you want this, baby?" Clark whispered, cradling her. Her blouse was off and her jeans down. She laid there in a nice pair of black bra and panties. Clark admired her body, she looked so tight.

"Yes, fuck me, now, before I go insane," Chloe said. She could feel Clark's fingers slowly roll down her flat tummy. She whimpered the more he brushed his fingers down. "Not funny, not fucking funny at all."

Clark spread her legs, pulling her panties down. He was going to taste her and Chloe was going to enjoy it.

Madness would visit her soon if she didn't get her reward.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Echoes**

* * *

Clark was not going to lie, that had been really amazing. The angles that they explored had been even more so. And he honestly had no idea where he ended up in the position that he was in when he finally crashed.

Actually, he didn't crash just as much as give Chloe and Lana a chance to recover. Right now, both girls were clinging to either side to him. He was getting fairly close to midnight, and Clark was about ready to get up.

He smiled. Despite all the super powers that he had, it would be the death grip of Lana Lang that would be the thing that did him in. There was something really amusing about that, that Clark couldn't really put his finger on. Lana latched onto his arm and her grip got tighter around him the more that Clark tried to get off.

Eventually, Clark managed to loosen her grip. It might have been just in time as well. Clark dropped down onto the ground and looked around. He caught sight of the clock, which thankfully had not been knocked off of the bedside table.

It was well after six in the evening. It wasn't too late, but Clark really needed to get going, honestly.

He needed to find his pants first of all. All of those powers and he had an inability to locate his pants when needed them. He found them. Thankfully that didn't get thrown out the window.

Clark checked over Lana and Chloe to make sure they were fine. They were a bit out of it, but otherwise they were doing well. He jotted them a quick note to make sure that they didn't freak out and said that he would call them in the morning.

He made his way outside and he got out his cell phone. He dialed the phone number at home and waited a few seconds for his mother or father to pick up. It was more likely his mother that would pick it up.

"Hello?" Martha asked.

"Mom, it's me…..things ran a bit late at Chloe's when we were trying to finish up the article," Clark said.

Martha knew that there was more to that than finishing up an article, but she was not about to give her son the third degree. "Clark, I need you to come home straight away…."

"There's nothing wrong, is there?" Clark asked. "It's Pa, isn't it?"

"No, your father is fine," Martha said. After the heart attack scare they had last year with Jonathan, they were on pins and needles. It's really hard to explain, but there's this young woman who came up to our doorstep and she's looking around, it's almost like she's looking for you.

That caused Clark to frown and think really hard. "Now, why would anyone be looking for me? In case you think…"

"I don't know, Clark," Martha replied. Her tone sounded honestly fretful. She really hoped that her son wasn't in any kind of trouble with anyone. "She had a picture of a baby that looked just like you when you were younger."

Clark was intrigued, and suspicious at the same time.

"Clark, what is it?"

He turned around and saw Lana standing there. She was wearing a shirt and a pair of panties that she just slipped on.

"Someone came over to the farm, she's looking for me," Clark told her.

Lana raised her eyebrow in response. On the one hand, she was intrigued that some girl was looking for Clark.

"It isn't some government agent or something, is it?" Lana asked him. She was really nervous for Clark's safe.

The thought had crossed Clark's mind and he turned towards Lana. The two of them locked eyes with each other for a second.

"You're going to go back, in case you're parents are in danger, aren't you?" Lana asked.

"She hasn't done anything yet," Clark said. Lana raised her eyebrow. "She might be….well like me."

"I could have sworn that you said that you were the last of your kind," Lana said. She hmmed when she looked at Clark and looked straight into his eye. "At least that's the impression that I had."

"That's the impression that I had as well, and that's what my parents told me," Clark said. He could see Lana frowning deeply. "I don't know about this, but if she is truly a danger to my parents, I should go there."

"Yes, I understand," Lana agreed. She smiled when she leaned forward and kissed Clark. "And what if she doesn't mean you any harm?"

"Well, I think that it might be a good idea to talk to her anyway, to try and figure out where she's coming from," Clark said. A mysterious girl making her way to the farm and with a picture of him as a child, well there was something going on as far as Clark was concerned and he wanted to know Clark.

Lana was about ready to ask Clark something, but he was gone. Given the news that he heard, she couldn't blame him for leaving her there. She would do the same thing if she thought that any of her family and friends were in trouble. Granted, Lana didn't know how far she would get without super powers.

"Did Clark just leave?"

Lana was brought out of her thoughts by Chloe and she spun around to face her. The redhead frowned and nodded in response.

"Yeah, he's gone," Lana agreed. "He had to check something out on the farm, it was urgent."

Chloe raised her eyebrow. She could sense the worry on Lana's face."Define urgent?"

"I'll tell you all about it, at least what he told me," Lana said. She didn't know much about it, Clark didn't know much. It was one of those things that was a mystery.

* * *

Linda was pretty certain that she had been in this place one time or another. Exactly when she didn't know and that very idea was causing her to be mentally wrecked. She closed her eyes.

'_Remember,' _she thought to herself. She could hear the gate creaking open and she could see the young man.

"Hello," Clark said. He was calm and tried not to let the woman know that he was concerned about her presence, even though he was a bit concerned about her presence.

"Hi," the girl commented. She frowned when she looked Clark over. She tried to place where she had seen him before, because she knew that she had seen him before, even though it was a long time ago. "You must be Clark…..I was just talking to your parents."

"Are they okay?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, they're fine," Linda said. "I was hoping if you could help me…..my name is Linda Danvers, and…well I could have sworn that I was in Smallville before then."

"Why would you say that?" Clark asked.

Linda frowned, she could tell that he didn't really trust her outright. She couldn't really blame him because if she met some strange girl that couldn't really explain where she was, she would have had some serious doubts as well.

"It's just a feeling that I have," Linda responded. She realized how bad that it sounded and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Do you ever have one of those feelings like that, but you can't place it?"

"What is it, a real memory, or something?" Clark asked.

Linda nodded, she could feel an intensity coming off of him. He was a strong young man and not because of his broad shoulders as well. "Yeah, or something…I was wondering if you could help me."

"Help you?" Clark asked. She leaned towards him and grabbed onto his arm. That caused Clark to blink when she looked at him with a needy glare in her eyes. Clark could feel a bit sorry for her because she looked so lost. "Actually, I think that I can help you…..tell me what you remember."

He couldn't help, but feel like he needed to help this girl. The firm grip that she had on his arm and the fact that he felt it clued him in.

"I was found about two years ago, in some burned out wreckage, no idea how I got there, none at all," Linda narrated. She rubbed the side of her head when she thought about it. "Before that…..I almost remember what happened."

"Think, think about what you remember, "Clark said. He firmly gripped her by the shoulders and positioned her to look him into the eyes. She looked at him with frustration. "Why don't you sit down and relax for a moment?"

"Thank you," she said. He guided over towards the bench that was by the porch. Clark could see his mother looking outside the window.

Clark looked at her and mouthed "I have this". Martha looked at him and nodded in response.

"You don't believe that I'm here to hurt you, do you?" Linda asked, suddenly out of the blue. That caused Clark's head to whip suddenly. It was pretty abrupt how she dropped that card on her. "You believe that I could be here, putting you and your parents in danger…for some reason, I don't know what."

"I want to help you get some answers, and I'd like some of my own," Clark told her. Linda frowned and her blue eyes met his blue eyes.

"Yeah, you know, maybe you're right not to trust me," Linda said, frowning deeply. She leaned towards Clark and her hand touched his. "I mean, I just came here out of nowhere. I don't know where I could have been. Perhaps I could have been a convict or something."

"You don't seem like the convict type," Clark told her. That caused Linda to scoff at him.

"Do you really take everyone that you see at face value?" she asked him. Linda folded her arms and stared at him in response. She didn't know why, but that seemed blissfully naïve to her. She couldn't honestly put her finger on it, but it just was.

"Just take a deep breath and relax," Clark said. He placed his hands on the either side of her head.

"I'm finding it pretty hard to relax with your hands all over my head like that," Linda said. She felt him move his hands down and place them on her shoulders. "That's a little bit better, I guess."

"As long as you're relaxed, I'm fine," Clark told her. "And just take a deep breath and tell me what you see."

"I see crystal towers falling and people running in terror….oh Rao," Linda breathed. She could feel a thumping motion go against the back of her head. She nearly fell forward, but Clark grabbed her.

"What did you say?" Clark asked suddenly.

"Oh god, I said oh god, they're screaming," Linda said. She didn't know where the other word came from, it was a flash from somewhere. Not where they're sure. "And….there's another person…..I think that she's my mother….telling me to get on the ship, the city's defenses have fallen."

Linda stopped and shook her head. She could feel her head about ready to explode from the torment that she suffered.

"I don't think that I can do this," Linda said. She nearly collapsed on Clark's shoulder. She shook her head

"Just calm down," Clark said, pulling her closer towards him.

"I want to know why I wasn't calm," Linda said. She looked up into the sky. She frowned when she looked around. "It's funny, I don't even know why I feel this. But I wish that I was up there flying, watching over the world, I'd feel so alive if I was."

Clark raised his eyebrow when he looked at her. Linda frowned and shook her head at the thoughts that were going through her head.

"I know, it's pretty dumb, isn't it?" she asked him.

"Not as much as you might think," Clark replied. Linda wondered what he meant about that. "I want you to come and meet someone with me, we could be able to figure this out."

"You're going to take me to some shrink, are you?" Linda asked. Clark raised his eyebrow. "Because the Orphanage tried to do that, tried hypnosis even, didn't really work."

"I'm not sure if it would work on your brain," Clark said. That caused Linda's eyes to look towards his. There was protest that was slowly forming on her tongue, but Clark cut her off. "Because, you're pretty strong willed and things like that don't work on the strong willed."

Linda stopped and nodded. She saw, she really did see. She was strong willed, that was one way to put it. Stubborn might have been a better way to put it.

"You know, if this works, it will cause you to figure out everything," Clark said. The girl placed her hands upon her hips.

"I want to know everything," Linda said. Even if it was bad, she needed to know it.

She took a step forward and then she slumped instantly. There was a scream that was nearly blood curdling. Clark had to clap his hand over her mouth to silent.

"It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, there's nothing wrong," Clark said soothingly. He looked into her eyes.

"I saw them, all of them died, they screamed for help, but I couldn't help them," Linda said. "I thought that I recognized some of their faces, but not all of them. They were slipping away and I was helpless, I couldn't do anything at all."

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't your fault, what happened," Clark said. "It wasn't your fault that the planet blew up."

"Oh, a planet blew up," she said. That caused her to grow from bad to worse. She slumped against Clark's shoulder. She was going through a traumatic incident and Clark had to steer her.

"Are you really sure that you want to find out what has been going on?" Clark asked her. He wanted to make sure that she was completely okay with this.

"Yeah, I'm sure, trust me," Linda said. She turned towards Clark. "But if I do anything to try to hurt you, fight back. I don't care if you've been brought up never to hit a female, just fight back and hit me."

"I'm not sure about that….."

"Damn it, either fight back, or I really will kick your ass," Linda said. She realized how much this made her sound unbalanced, but she honestly didn't care. She could see the concerned eyes of the farm boy.

There was a long pause. She realized that she had gone too far and looked at him, giving a long sigh in response.

"Okay, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you, "she replied. "But, I could be dangerous. You were right not to trust me."

"Oh, I only didn't trust the situation," Clark said. "We'll do this at your own pace and only do it when you're ready."

Was she going to have an episode? Her hand placed upon the top of her head and she kept herself extremely calm. No episode, not even a moment, but the yells in the back of her head still haunted her.

The cries for help, unsettling they were, were the only things that hooked the blonde orphan to what could be a dangerous past.

"Are you ready?" Clark asked. She nodded.

* * *

A gladiatorial arena was in the middle of a very densely populated alien planet. A red haired woman dressed in tight body armor took down her adversary. He was extremely boastful, the type of man who thought that he could take any woman for a conquest, because he was a big man.

The woman gave him a chance to win her hand. He would either claim her as his, or he would experience the consequences of her arrogance.

The warrior queen was the pinnacle of beauty. Her red hair flew wildly. The body armor covered her body, but there was enough of her shown that anyone could see that she was a woman that was extremely fit and an ideal companion for any man. This warrior queen was the type of woman every man throughout the galaxy might want, but absolutely none of them had any chance whatsoever to hope to tame.

"I grow tired of this sport," the warrior queen commented. She frowned. "If you're going to take me, you would have done it a long time ago."

The warrior queen grabbed the man around the back of the head and took him down. Much like all of her other opponents, she grew tired of him. He talked big, but tired fast. If he did that in the combat arena, then she doubted he would fare much better elsewhere.

The latest victim fell down in a heap. Blood poured from the side of his mouth when she pulled back. The warrior queen's eyes narrowed. She wasn't really impressed to be honest with him.

"Another potential conquest wasted," she said. She looked towards one of her aides. "Are there any more who wish to bore me today?"

"No, Queen Maxima," the aide answered.

"A pity, I barely broke a sweat enough today and it is not even midday," Maxima said. She stepped towards the throne room.

The throne room she took from her father, the previous ruler of the planet. It was the way of Almerac to slay the previous ruler and stand in their place. Maxima wished to find a mate that could be her equal and they could rule over the planet. Many of the men had been cut down on the planet because they thought that they could hang with Maxima.

It was foolish enough for them to think such a thing. She gave them a chance to prove her wrong, but it appeared to be a bit of a folly.

Maxima slowly stripped herself out of her body armor. A nice green top held up her breasts, which were ample and extremely firm. She had an athletic frame that proved that she worked out of anyway. Her posterior was extremely eye catching, but anyone who valued their lives would not dare look at it, unless they were confident in their abilities to fight the Warrior Queen. She stretched her legs a little bit more and frowned when she leaned back.

Her legs were extremely long, and she was extremely tall. Her legs could crush anyone, but yet many men longed to wrap them around them.

She made her way up a step of stairs, peeling off her under clothes. The frustrated woman sank down.

"I hoped that one of them might be the one, but they can't even stand up to me," Maxima said. She pushed herself down into the water and allowed herself to sink down into the water. "It seems like the ones that are the most worthy have never heard of me."

"And what would be the most worthy, Queen Maxima?" one of her aides asked, when she washed her Queen's shoulders.

"Someone of a race that is close to us, that can match us in power and in proper breeding," Maxima offered. She smiled when she thought about it wistfully. "A Kryptonian might be the greatest example of what I'm searching for."

"The Kryptonians met their demise some time ago," one of her aides reminded her. Maxima curled her mouth into a frown.

"I know, don't remind me, my mother told me stories about how they were an advanced civilization," Maxima said. "The best of them would be more than sufficient and considering this planet thrives underneath a yellow sun, the possibilities are endless."

Maxima thought about her Kryptonian dream man. He would be strong enough to take her, but gentle enough to tend to her every need and make her feel like the most wonderful woman in the universe. There would be an entire army of concubines that were willing to serve their every move, but only the best, the brightest, and the most beautiful.

She closed her eyes. It frustrated her a great deal that this vision that she had would never come to place. She wanted a great Alpha that would rule beside her. It didn't matter where, because no one stood in her way.

"Unless you find a person who can challenge me, then you shouldn't bother me, and just leave me to my thoughts," Maxima said. She slowly stretched her muscles out into the bathtub and relaxed herself. Her expression grew extremely calm in response.

There was one of her aides that rushed in and nearly ran into another aide that had been washing her. The two of them collided.

"You're not going to believe this, Queen Maxima," one of the aides replied. "I believe that we have found a mate worthy of you."

"That remains to be seen," Maxima replied. She shook her head. "Who dares challenge me this time?"

"No one has challenged you, but we believe that there is a survivor of Krypton that lives," the aide answered.

That caused Maxima's attention to be grabbed. She nearly stood out of the tub in a rapid fire rate and allowed the water to fall down her body. She had assumed all had perished with the planet, but there was a survivor.

Her aides took a set of robes over towards her. The Warrior Queen walked over.

"Where is this Kryptonian?" Maxima asked.

"He is on a planet known as…..Earth?" the aide asked in confusion.

Maxima had never heard of Earth, it seemed to be rather obscure in the grand scheme of the universe. She would have to find out immediately.

"Fine me all of the information that you can on this Earth, and verify that that my Kryptonian soul mate can be found there," Maxima said. She was pretty sure that this was the one, providing that her aides were not jerking her around.

And if they were, they would pay the price.

* * *

Linda arrived on the outside of the barn door. There was a familiar energy that bombarded her. She couldn't really put what it was in the back of her mind, but it was causing her to be lured forward. The girl frowned when she got even closer.

"Are you sure about this?" Linda asked.

"I'm sure," Clark said.

Clark caused the gap to be closed behind her. He reached forward into a crate and opened it. He pulled down the crystal containing his mother.

"Mother, I need your help," Clark said.

"Of course, Clark, I'm at your disposal," Lara said. She wondered what this was all about. Hearing her son sound so somber and serious had put her a bit off guard.

"I need you to help this girl, she says that her name is Linda Danvers, but she's…" Clark said.

"Kara?" Lara asked suddenly. She couldn't believe it.

Linda frowned, she didn't know why, but that name meant something to her. And the holographic project of the woman looked really familiar. Some things were coming back to her, although it was not completely coming back to her. It was a lot of really random pieces of a fractured jigsaw puzzle.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Reawakening.**

* * *

Linda Danvers thought that her confusion had hit a fever pitch before, but she had heard nothing yet. This mysterious woman called her by the name Kara. Did that name hold any meaning to her? She thought that it might have.

Clark looked at the holographic projection of his mother with a frown on his face. There were a lot of ideas that were swimming around in the back of his head regarding what he was told. He turned towards his mother and finally found his voice. "You know this girl?"

"Yes, I know her," Lara confirmed. "Her name is Kara Zor-El. She is the daughter of your father's adopted brother Zor-El."

"So, that makes us related," Linda replied. She actually sounded a bit disappointed at that.

"According to your family trees yes, but there is about as much as a genetic match to you as two other people would have," Lara said. "You're not from Earth, you're from a planet known as Krypton."

That pretty much broke the young girl's brain. She was trying to figure out where she was coming from. Her mouth hung open to the point where it looked like she was catching flies. It took her a couple of moments to recover.

"It can't be," she muttered underneath her breath. She didn't know how this could be possible, that she could be from another planet.

Yet, she could see something stir in the back of her head. There were memories of a past time. She could see some familiar faces. There was an echo in the back of her hand. Her mother told her to get out of there.

Clark pulled her in close, his arm wrapped around her strongly. The towers were crumbling in her mind's mind. It was hard to see, but she needed to get off of the planet. There was a reason why she had to get off the planet.

'_Remember,' _Kara thought with a deep frown. She tried to recall everything in the back of her head but all she ran into was one brick wall after another. That frustrated her completely. It seemed like no matter what she tried to do, she couldn't recall anything that happened. She threw her head back with a groan.

She needed to remember, something. She had to remember it. She had to remember something.

"Sorry, there's nothing," Kara answered. She could feel a groan coming to her. She thought that she recalled something, but everything was just a blur for her.

"I think that I can help spark your memory," Lara told the girl. Linda, Kara, whoever she was, she was desperate enough to try anything right now.

Her mind felt like a jigsaw puzzle with a few of the pieces missing.

"When your ship crashed to Earth, the shock of it must have caused some form of mental lapse," Lara said. "We're going to try to give that one final jolt to restore your memories."

"You can only do it when you're ready," Clark said. He didn't want to pressure the girl. She was the one link to back home other than the holographic crystals that contained his parents. He feared that if something happened, her memories might be gone forever. Did he really want to go through that?

"Take your time," Lara encouraged the girl.

"I'm ready now," Kara replied. She hated when people treated her like she was made of glass. That was one thing that she remembered.

"Kal, take the crystal and press it to her forehead, gently, for a few seconds, no more than ten," Lara said.

If this worked, she would be all in one piece again. If it didn't work, then she would have no harm done. Lara didn't see the harm of doing anything.

Clark did as he was told. He walked over and walked the crystal over to the girl's head.

"Be prepared to catch her, because that might be a shock to the system," Lara said. That caused Clark to hesitate.

"Don't worry, I trust that you'll be here to catch me when I fall," Kara said. She leaned towards him and her lips lightly brushed against his with a kiss.

He was surprised by the action and so she was. Clark dangled the crystal between his fingers. He mentally started to count to ten when he pressed the crystal against the top of her head.

Kara gave a groan in response and she could feel it all coming back to her. The shattered memories that once taunted her were now filtering into the back of her head. It was all coming even cleaer to her now.

She slumped against Clark and he caught her. He gently looked at the top of her head.

"I'm fine, thank you," she said, leaning herself back. There was a watery gaze that met his eyes. "Just take me back there, and we'll see what we can do."

"Right," Clark agreed. He made sure that she was situated and ready to go.

A few seconds later, she was rushed inside the door. Martha and Jonathan Kent were waiting for it.

"I need to get her to the upstairs bedroom," Clark said. His parents gave him a questioning look. "She'll be fine….she's from the same place that I am."

"Another one?" Jonathan asked. He was trying to reconcile this in his mind. He assumed that his son was the last of his kind.

"Yes, another one, she's my cousin….my adopted cousin," Clark answered. Not that it mattered how here in the middle of the country.

"Just take her upstairs, and we'll talk about this later," Martha said. She was looking at her son. She didn't know what was happening to him, but there was something that changed about him. He was looking much stronger and that really was something that Martha wondered about that.

Clark managed to get Kara into bed.

"I'll be fine, just tired," Kara murmured. She felt like she was waking up from the end of an extremely long dream that she had a devil of a time trying to understand. Her head felt like it was about ablaze as well.

Clark smiled. "I know that you'll be okay."

She did something that was brave. There was a part of her that didn't know what she would see and that pretty much scared her. Clark didn't blame the girl, such a thing would terrify himself as well.

"So, she's another survivor of the planet?" Jonathan asked.

"My mother verified it, her name is Kara Zor-El," Clark replied.

"You know, I feared the worst when she came around," Martha answered. She looked at Clark with a frown on her face. "But, if Lara trusts her, she did."

"I feared about the same, someone coming here out of the blue," Clark said. "Even if she was honestly an innocent party, someone was putting her up to it. But, I could have sworn that the government made all of the inquiries that they did during the meteor shower."

"They did," Martha agreed. It took some doing to keep Clark under wraps. The government officials were around here pretty much every day, looking for someone who sneezed wrong. "But they've backed off in the last few years."

"Even though there is a new reason for them to take a closer look around here," Jonathan said. "There is some brave young man out there doing heroics."

Clark raised his eyebrow.

"Clark, we know that it's hard to stand by, when you have this great power," Jonathan said. "And I know that there's little that I can do to stop you when you're almost an adult. But the last you can do is try and be careful."

"I will be careful," Clark informed his parents. He was stern.

"That's all that we can ask for," Martha responded. She placed her hand on her son's shoulder. She didn't know why, but there was something different about it. "Even when you go out into the world, you remember that your home is always in Smallville."

"Don't worry, I'll never forget that," Clark said. It would be an extremely cold day before he forgot something like that.

Smallville was a home to him and it was a home that gave him the values that he needed to be the hero that the world might be able to look up to. Clark thought that his parents, both sets, had high expectations for him, but he would be damned if he didn't put his best foot forward to deliver. That was what heroes did at the end of the day.

* * *

Maxima was a woman who when she wanted something, she kept her eyes on the prize. The Queen of Almerac fixated her eyes against the screen and she could see the planet known as Earth.

"It's rather…..quaint in some ways, isn't it?" she asked.

"It's a relatively new planet, barely had a chance to forge its own identity in the universe," her aide informed her.

"And the perfect place for the last son of Krypton to be," Maxima answered. She geared herself up for battle. "I do wonder what I'm going to deal with when I go there. I suspect that he has already fashioned himself as a ruler amongst humans, and might not want to leave his planet."

Maxima had thought of that possibility and she frowned deeply at that thought.

"But, I'm willing to work a compromise that I'm sure can unite the two empires that we have," Maxima said. She made sure that her battle armor was on extremely nicely. She looked at herself in the camera. "Providing of course that he can still prove himself worthy against battle."

One thing remained true for Maxima. She might have been excited at the thought of a Kryptonian, but she was not going to fall at the feet of the first Kryptonian that stepped in front of her. She would have to make him earn it, just like any other man.

The thing that Maxima was confident with was that she was sure that he did earn it. The Queen of Almerac could see that.

"Time for me to seek out my mate," Maxima said. She made her way towards a glowing crystal orb. She allowed herself to check herself. She turned towards her aides. "Remember, no one is to know that I have gone. I will either return with a mate or another disappointment."

She touched her hands to the orb and she flashed off away. She really hoped that this would be the one. Dozens of potential mates threw themselves at the feet of Queen Maxima and many of them faltered at said feet.

* * *

For Lana Lang, today started pretty much like any normal day. It wasn't any normal date, it was the day of the Harvest Dance. She actually was glad that most of the set up was done the day before, because she knew by coordinating past events it could be a nightmare.

Lana made her way to the Kent Farm. It was early in the morning, but not too early so Clark wouldn't be given up.

She saw something zip across the farm. She thought that it was Clark doing his early morning chores.

Lana frowned when she saw that Clark was over on the other end of the farm. Her curiosity got the better of her.

There was one thing that Lana Lang should have learned a long time ago. Her curiosity might have gotten the better of her. She was the type of woman who just couldn't help herself. She liked stepping into danger.

Lana looked around, but there was nothing.

'_Curious,' _she thought to herself. Her frown deepened when she edged a bit backwards.

"Lana?"

Lana turned around and saw Clark standing there. Clark smiled when he looked towards her.

"Oh, hey, Clark, good morning….you left last night, and I wanted to check up to see if you were okay," Lana said. She did more then check up on him.

Lana threw her arms around his neck and shoved her tongue down his throat. Clark was not surprised like this and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, and held her completely back against the barn.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

That caused Lana nearly to jump up into the air. Clark nearly caught her jumping up into the air and caused her to land back. There was a fairly tall blonde standing there. She was wearing a cut off white shirt that showed her midriff and a pair of night shorts. Lana felt her eyes drawn to the girl's legs, but she couldn't help herself.

'_Rest of her isn't half bad either,' _Lana thought to herself. She shook her head.

"This is the girl that stopped by yesterday, she had some trouble remembering something, and I helped jog her memory," Clark informed Lana. Lana cupped her hand underneath her chin and nodded in response. "Her name is Kara Zor-El, she comes from Krypton."

"Another one," Lana said. She wondered if she should be surprised. There was a part of her that said that she honestly shouldn't be surprised. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kara, I'm Lana, I'm Clark's…"

"You're one of his bonded, I know," Kara said. She looked over Lana. "I can tell."

Lana wondered what this was all about. She shrugged in response. "I guess we could consider me that."

"There's nothing to be ashamed about," Kara said. "Kal-El, we always knew that he would be something special, but how special, we couldn't even dream about it."

"I know, he's something else," Lana said. She continued quickly, almost tripping over her words when she spoke. "And I knew that before I even knew that he had his powers, so there's no need for you to…"

"Relax, I knew that you knew," Kara said. She walked over behind Lana and placed her hands on the back of her neck.

Lana could feel Kara touch her for a brief second. It was honestly a bit distracting, but she got over it pretty soon. Kara pulled herself away from her, acting like there was nothing out of the ordinary to what she did.

"Glad that you knew that I knew," Lana replied. She didn't know how to react by that.

"So, does Clark….." Kara said. She paused for a second. On the one hand, that seemed a bit odd rolling off of her tongue, his human alias. On the other hand, something about it seemed so natural. Maybe not as natural as Kal did, but it was not entirely distasteful to her. "Has he taken any others?"

"Well there's our friend Chloe," Lana said. "That's about it right now."

"Seventeen years of age, and you've only taken two?" Kara asked. She thought that the yellow sun would super charge his sex drive even more.

Either he had the greatest self-control in the world or there was something about her mother's theories that were entirely wrong. Kara was going to go with the greatest self-control in the world because her mother was a genius and she was never wrong.

"To be fair, Clark's the master of chivalry, I had to practically jump him to get him to budge," Lana said. "And there are quite a few girls that are extremely interested, but not many of them are interested for the right reasons."

"Well, I'm sure that we can at least trust his judgment….sorry for talking about you like you're not standing two feet away from us," Kara said. She looked rather embarrassed.

"I've had some good judgment," Clark said.

"Yeah, good judgment, just a little slow on the uptake," Lana said. She was glad that she fixed that right now.

"Yeah, I guess that I was, but you know when I pick something up, I make sure that I make up for lost time," Clark said. He crossed the distance and had Lana backed up against the wall. The two of them were almost face to face with each other and she could feel a heat rise through her body. "As you well know."

"As I've found out," Lana agreed. She could see Clark withdraw his gaze from hers and she wasn't going to lie.

Kara smiled when she thought about something.

"The two of us are going out to the Harvest Dance tonight," Clark replied to Kara.

"Oh, that's nice," Kara replied. She really meant that.

"Kara, didn't you say that you wanted to transfer into Smallville High?" Clark asked her.

"That was what I wanted when my mind was rattled," Kara responded.

"And do you still want that?" Lana asked. Kara paused to consider that fact. Lana made her way closer towards Kara and looked towards the younger girl. "If you want me to, I can show you around and let you know how to survive school."

"I don't think that school on Earth would be that bad," Kara said. "I mean, on Krypton, school was full of unnecessary drama and people trying to be your friend, and talking behind your back. Everything was subdivided into groups and everyone was at each other's throats. It was pretty insane."

"Honey," Lana said, looking at Kara seriously. "Things are like that on Earth as well."

Kara's face fell. "Oh."

Clark could not help, but smile at the dejected look on Kara's face. He reached forwards her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I guess that schools don't change that much no matter what planet you're on."

"No, they don't," Kara said.

"Why don't you come and join us tonight?" Lana asked. "Our girlfriend Chloe is coming with us to."

"You actually got Chloe to come along?" Clark asked.

"I worked her over and she accepted," Lana said. There was some intrigue to what she said for Clark. Lana cut her boyfriend off because he could make her elaborate on that. "Trust me, I'll give you the full and juicy details later."

Clark would be lying if he didn't say that he could hardly wait, because he could hardly wait.

"I'll see you tonight," Lana said. "I'll see both of you tonight."

Lana smiled and gave Clark one last parting kiss. She leaned towards Kara as well and pulled her into a warm hug, before kissing her on the top of the forehead.

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Kara," Lana said. She looked over the Kryptonian teenager. "I'll be glad to get to know you so much better in the future."

Lana made her way off. That left Kara there, with a smile across her face. Clark wondered what was with the mischievous glint in Kara's eye.

"She really is something, isn't she?" Kara asked him.

"Yes, she's something," Clark said.

"And how long did it take before you figured out what she was?" Kara asked. She wasn't trying to accuse Clark of anything.

"Long enough," Clark replied.

Kara frowned, that honestly didn't answer her question. She was willing to let it go for his sake though. She led him out of the barn.

It was amazing that the two of them working together was able to make the farm a better place.

"I feel bad about doing all of the work done that fast," Kara said after looking at him. "Your father won't have anything to do."

"Pa should really take it easy," Clark said. Kara looked at him. "Last year, he went down to a heart attack. And…his doctors told him not to overexert himself. I've been picking up a lot of the slack, although he still wants to return to his former load. It makes him feel more useful."

"You do realize that there are ways that you can cure him using your technology, it could make him as good as knew," Kara said. Clark frowned when he looked at her. The girl caught onto it right away. "Unless, he doesn't want it, because he's too stubborn."

"Yes, he's too stubborn," Clark said. He almost chuckled out how much Kara hit the nail right on the head, but he kept himself from doing so. "And also, I'm not sure how well Kryptonian technology would work with human biology."

Kara sighed. He had a point and she hated that much. She made way up the steps into the barn. She looked around looked out into the city.

"I grew up in a farm town just like this," Kara mused. Clark raised his eyebrow. "Well, it wasn't exactly like this, there were a few differences, but…..it gave me a strong sense of hard work. My mother's lab really did need to be out in the middle of the country though."

"Why?" Clark asked.

Kara smiled when she went down on a trip down memory lane. "Because she did some experiments that had some really explosive results, but she did mellow out a little bit when she had me."

"I'm sure that she would have been a remarkable person to meet," Clark said. He placed his hands on the back of Kara's neck. "If she was anything like you were."

"She would have liked you," Kara said. She allowed Clark's hands to rest on the back of her neck.

She was deep in thought closing her eyes. "You know, the fact that we're the last of our kind puts us in an extremely interesting position."

"Oh, we are, aren't we?" Clark asked. Kara made her way closer towards him and gave him a smile. The two of them were about an inch away from each other. They could have touched where they were.

"Clark, are you up there?"

That caused Clark to frown. He could hear Chloe making her way up towards the barn.

"Well, I guess you better go see what she wants," Kara said. She was regarding this entire situation as being rather cool.

Clark made his way down to face Chloe, who looked at him with a frown. "Hey, Chloe, what are you doing here?"

"I was making sure that everything was alright here," Chloe said. She could see that Clark was standing there, looking in pretty good spirits. "And judging by the smile on your face, and the spring in your step, you're looking pretty happy."

"There's no looking happy about it," Clark informed her. Chloe arched her eyebrow in surprise. "I am very happy."

"That's good to hear and I honestly mean that," Chloe told him. She looked up the steps and saw the blonde that was standing on the landing, looking down at Chloe. She seemed to be giving Chloe a going over. "So, is that…"

"That was the girl that was by last night, yes," Clark said. "Her name is Kara, and you can guess that she has a story to tell."

"Yeah, I guess that she has," Chloe said.

* * *

Lori Lemaris was one of the volunteers helping out for the Harvest Dance at Smallville High School. She felt like that she really needed to help out and earn her keep. It had been an interesting road here, but she wanted to learn the culture of an amazing town. There were some many weird things that she wouldn't have stood out all that much.

There was one young man in particular that stood out to her and that was Clark Kent. She accidentally spotted him one day using some extraordinary gifts to save some people. He could have used those gifts for anything, including putting people underneath his control. However, he used those gifts for some wonderful things and that caused Lori to smile in response. He was a great young man and it excited her to know him.

He was wonderful, powers or not.

"Hey, Lori."

Lori turned around and saw Lana standing there right now.

"I thought that you were told to go home last night," Lori informed the redhead female. Lana looked at her. "You know, one of these days you're going to worry yourself sick and then where would we be."

"I just wanted to stop by to check things out for the dance," Lana said. She looked around and frowned. "Although I didn't see that there was a reason to stop by, because you've down a really great job."

"You worry too much Lana, everything is fine," Lori said. She could understand the frustration going through the tone of the woman. She reached over and grabbed her hand. "So, you and Clark are going to the dance, aren't you?"

"Yeah, although Chloe is tagging along and a friend of Clark's from out of town is also coming," Lana said.

"Is this friend female?" Lori asked. She had a hunch that something was going on.

"Well, she is, Clark just reconnected with her," Lana said.

Lori had a sense that there was something more to what was going on than met the eye at first. She was going to allow Lana to say what she's going to go.

"You know, Clark seems like he's amassing a nice little private harem," Lori muttered, more to herself than Lana.

"Well, he does deserve it, he works way too hard," Lana said, without missing a beat. Lori was caught off guard by how nonchalant her voice was.

"Well, he's nice," Lori answered. She realized how lame that sounded. She wanted to slap herself with something across the back of her head. "I mean, I'm sure that the two of you, or maybe the four are you will be happy together."

"Do you have a boyfriend, Lori?" Lana asked out of the blue. The girl was caught off guard. Lana amended her statement quickly. "Okay, that's really not my business, but I was just wondering, that was all."

"No, I don't," Lori said. She was about to say that the one guy that she had any interest was snagged by Lana, but damned if that didn't sound a little too bitter and a whole lot bitchy. She shook her head to clear it.

"Well, that's fine if you don't, I'm not judging you or anything," Lana informed Lori. Lori looked extremely grateful for that. "You know, for all of the help that you've given me preparing for the dance, the least I can offer you as a dance with Clark."

"It's almost like you're pimping out your boyfriend to me," Lori said.

Lana didn't know whether to laugh or cry. That seemed to be a common phrase with her. Was she that transparent with what her intentions were with Clark? She couldn't really say. She did want her boyfriend to be happy and to get the best out of life, the best of everything.

"You know, if you want to put it like that, I'm not about to argue with you," Lana said. "Even though Clark does have a say in the matter. I'm not walloping him with my pimp stick as I sell him out to this girl or that girl."

"Oh, I didn't mean any offense," Lori said. She didn't know if Lana took any offense.

"None taken," Lana answered. She checked her watch. "Now that everything is fine…I'm going home right now, and you should go home too, if you want to go to the dance with us."

"I don't have a dress or anything," Lori said.

"Well, I'll fix you up, trust me," Lana said.

She didn't think that her life could be like this. It did seem like Clark had changed her completely. Sharing was in fact caring as they said and now Lana Lang knew all about that better than anyone else.

Lori meanwhile wondered what the hell she was getting herself into.

* * *

"I think that the girls are going to have their jaws drop on the floor and all of the boys are going to be jealous," Kara said, when she looked at Clark. She frowned. "Unless of course, I'm really mixing things up again. I'm kind of new to this entire Earth culture thing, you see."

"Don't worry, Kara, sometimes it's really hard to figure everything out," Clark replied. He could see her standing there. She was wearing a shimmering dress that showed a modest amount of cleavage. Her golden tresses were done up extremely nicely. She was having a bit of trouble mastering the art of walking in high heels though.

"You know, I never really walked in these blasted things," Kara grumbled. She could feel Clark's hands gently on her waist and holding her up. "I don't really know how humans are able to walk in these things."

"Don't worry, they haven't quite figured that out either," Clark replied. He gave Kara a warm smile and Kara shook her head.

"I'm not sure if this should make me feel much better or make me feel a lot worse," Kara commented. Regardless, she was going to stay on her feet with Clark holding her up like he was. "Well, here goes nothing I suppose. How do I look?"

"Like a million bucks."

It wasn't Clark that answered that, but Lana. Lana was looking pretty stunning herself in an absolute blue dress.

"You look nice," Clark said.

"I feel like I walked out of some kind of Disney Princess film," Lana replied shaking her head. "But thank you."

Lana leaned forward and managed to gracefully lean forward. She kissed Clark firmly on the lips, living her lips linger for a moment.

"You're going to have to teach me how to do that," Kara said. Lana looked towards Kara with a raised eyebrow.

"What, kiss Clark?" Lana asked with a mischievous tone. That caused Kara to sigh in response. "Because, sweetie, I can really tech you how to do much more than that. Maybe after the dance tonight if we play your cards right."

Kara was strongly considering taking Lana up on her offer. She managed to clear her head by shaking it. "That wasn't what I was talking about though…..it was the walking in heels."

"Oh, you just need to take your time and ease into it," Lana said. She cupped her hand underneath her chin and adopted a thinker pose. "It's really hard to explain. Most girls have twisted ankles because of it, but I think because of your own super invulnerability thing, you might be okay."

"I'll take your word about it," Kara said. She had a few incidents regarding her powers and she was glad that she was able to explain them after the last couple of months.

"Lori and Chloe are waiting for us," Lana informed both of them.

"Since when did Lori get involved into this entire mess?" Clark asked. He could sense that there was something devious in Lana's eyes. "Oh, Lana Lang, you evil mastermind, what have you done?"

"Us people with those LL initials so can't be trusted," Lana said with a smirk. "And there's two of them collaborating, so I'd be very afraid if you are."

"I'm shaking," Clark responded. All things considered this was fixing up to be an interesting evening.

Clark was going to say that this might end with a bang, but considering the fact that they were in Smallville, it would be the wrong kind of bang to be honest.

X-X-X

In the middle of a cornfield, Maxima appeared. There was a flash of light when she arrived. She gave a smell of the air and pulled a face.

"Not exactly the most appealing of first impressions," Maxima commented. She stepped forward and made her way onto the main road. Her eyes raked over a sign. The words were of a scribbling of a primitive language that she could understand. "It's fairly primitive, but I'll fix that."

She adjusted a wristband that she was wearing. It was a high tech universal translator that would allow her to read and understand practically any language that she would come across.

"Smallville, the meteor capital of the world," Maxima answered. She stepped onto the ground and allowed herself to bathe in the yellow solar radiation. "Humans obviously do not have state of the art technology."

She saw what passed as transportation. It was still firmly on the ground. The ground was only fit to force her enemies to kneel before her. It wasn't fit to drive over.

Maxima lifted her hand up and stopped the truck right in its tracks. The shell shocked driver nearly jumped.

"What in the name of Sam Hill are you?" the driver asked.

"I'm your superior, and you are to treat me with respect," Maxima said in a haughty tone of voice. "I wish to find the last son of Krypton."

"I don't know what you're on lady, but I don't know anything about Krypton," the driver of the truck said.

Maxima came to one conclusion swiftly, humans were fairly ignorant. She would have to seek him out the old fashioned way and would have to do so on foot.

Some might say such a thing was disagreeable. Others would say that it built character. Maxima admitted it was worth it if she found her king. He better be worth it though, or she would be greatly displeased.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: The Dance. **

* * *

It was a night which Lana assumed that she would never forget. And maybe she wouldn't. The last couple of days had been insane and had turned her entire day right upside down. She managed to attach herself to Clark's arm going on in. It was almost like she was bragging, but who wouldn't brag if they were proud of the catch they landed?"

"One almost might think that you're making some kind of point," Chloe offered Lana. Lana turned around and gave her a smug smile. "And I'm pretty sure that's the case right there, you're making that point."

"Of course, I'm making a point," Lana said, shaking her head. "I'm really happy. Who wouldn't be happy given the circumstances?"

That being said, Clark was the one that was happy enough as well, mostly because there was a lot about his world that was making a lot of sense right now. Or about as much sense as everything would with someone of his unique heritage. There was a time where he thought that he would be normal.

All of those thoughts went away pretty fast though when he thought about it. He was given these powers and he could honestly help people.

"How can you stand it?" Kara asked.

That caused Clark to turn around to face her. She was speaking a low voice so only Clark could hear her. "How can I stand what?"

"All of the gossip, it's just…..well it just is," Kara said, folding her arms over her chest with a sigh. She didn't really know what to make of any of it, but it was extremely frustrating. "I suppose being able to hear every little sound isn't what it's cracked up to be."

"No, it really isn't," Clark informed her with a smile. "Although, if you isolate those sounds, it should be fine."

Kara thought that it was easier said than done. She hung back a little bit, drinking the punch bowl.

"So, it seems like a pretty nice place here," Kara said to Chloe. Chloe smiled in response, shaking her head.

"Yeah, nice, but that feeling passes pretty quickly with high school," Chloe said. Whoever said that high school was the best years of their life obviously had some pretty romanticized memories of their days at school.

"Oh?" Kara asked.

"Yes, indeed," Chloe informed her with a smile. "But, I'm pretty sure that you're fit in just great."

They watched as Lana and Clark went off to dance, leaving the two of them there alone to talk.

"Don't worry, I moved into town from Metropolis in the 8th grade and Smallville is an entirely different world," Chloe said. Kara nodded in response when Chloe placed her hand on her shoulder and turned her slightly. "You're just going to have to get used to it, and I'm sure that there are many sights that are worth seeing."

"Yeah, that's for sure," Kara said. Her eyes were fixated on Clark at the moment, and Chloe understood better than anyone else.

"Yeah, Smallville really can be a great place," Lori said. She stood up, barely able to stand on her feet today. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop…..it's just that….."

"No problem," Kara said to the girl. "So, do you like Clark?"

"Yeah, he's a great guy, could not ask for anyone better, Lana is rather lucky to have netted him," Lori said. She was looking at Clark with a dazed look in her eyes. Kara and Chloe noticed it and by Lori shaking her head, she drew even more attention to such a look.

"You know, Clark's more man than one woman can handle," Chloe whispered to Lori.

"So, wait, the two of you…..?" Lori asked. She wasn't actually surprised by this as much as you would think. She did need to sit down to reconcile it. She didn't know that straight laced Clark Kent was into two women. That was a lot for her to take in to be honest.

Meanwhile, Clark and Lana were dancing. Well dancing might have been pushing things a bit too much, but they were having a good time. Lana slowly leaned in towards Clark to whisper in his ear.

"You know for someone with all of those super powers, you would think that your dancing skills would be a little bit better," Lana answered him. She smiled. "Then again, for someone who is able to pull off all of those complex moves when she cheerleads, you would think that my dancing would be a little bit better."

"Looks like Chloe is trying to pull Lori into the fun," Clark said.

"Oh, I've corrupted her well," Lana said. She would have wiped away a mock tear, if she didn't have Clark wrapped firmly around his waist and they kept dancing.

"You have, haven't you?" Clark asked her and Lana nodded quite eagerly. The two of them continued their dance with each other.

"I suppose the clumsy act is to compensate for the fact that you don't want people to know something about you," Lana muttered. Clark nodded. "Fair enough, I thought for someone who did his chores so fast, you were a bit too much of a klutz to be legit."

"Sorry for your disappointment," Clark said. He grabbed Lana around the waist and dipped her down.

"I think that I've been hogging you for too long, I think we should give someone else a spin," Lana said.

She was done embarrassing herself, at least for now. Lori and Chloe were in deep conversation and Kara was amused by something. Lana gave Kara one of those looks and Kara responded with a light little shrug.

"So, do you want to dance, Chloe?" Clark asked her.

"Um, how about later?" Chloe asked.

"You're not going to look like any less of a fool than I am, if that's what you're worried about it," Lana said. Chloe shrugged.

"You didn't do too bad….but I'm just not up for it now, maybe later," Chloe said. She stretched herself in and decided to make her move. "Maybe, you'd want to dance with him, Lori."

"Oh, god, me dancing, that's a disaster waiting to happen," Lori groaned. She was bad enough on her legs, not being used to being able to use them to begin with.

"Come on, I'm sure that it won't be that bad," Clark said. Lori gave him one of those looks that showed that she strongly disagreed with the fact that it might not be that bad. He gave her one of those warm smiles and she could barely disagree with what he was doing.

She knew that there would be a part of her that regretted doing this, even though there would also be a part of her that regretted doing this at all. Lori got to her feet and was lead over to the dance floor.

"So, the two of you have been working her over, haven't you?" Lana asked. She turned to Kara. "Which is strange, because you haven't…."

"Not yet," Kara agreed. She was waiting for the right moment. She had plenty of time to be honest. She watched when Clark wrapped his arm around Lori and held the girl firmly against him. "There's something about her that's pretty different."

"You don't say?" Lana asked. She had assumed the same thing. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know, but that's her secret to tell," Kara said. She was looking at Chloe for a second and Chloe threw her arms up into the air in surprise.

"What, what, I'm not saying anything," Chloe said. She rolled her eyes when she looked at Lori and Clark dancing on the floor, or at least that's what they were trying to do. "Oh, she's right, this would be worse than if I tried to dance."

"I knew it," Lana said and Chloe gave her one of those looks.

Lori shook her head and Clark held onto her. "Okay, it's fine, you're doing pretty well."

"Am I?" Lori asked. She knew that Clark was trying to boost her self esteem and not destroy it. "Because we nearly tumbled onto the ground about three times."

"I told you everything would be fine," Clark informed the female. He could sense her nervousness. "It will be just fine."

She thought for one wild moment that he was going to kiss her to offer her some more reassurance. That never came to pass because something else happened.

The entire school rattled when something approached. There was a smack of something flying up against the door.

Clark knew he would regret looking, but he had no choice. He saw the battered bodies of some police officers. He saw what appeared to be a regal looking woman walking towards him, her arms swaying by her side.

He frowned and Kara frowned just as much as well. She allowed her breath to escape her body.

"Who is she?" Clark asked Kara. Kara recognized her instantly, or at least the attire that she was wearing.

"Trouble," Kara said. She did not like this because as long as this woman was here, pretty much everyone was in danger.

Her bellowing voice could be heard. "Present yourself to me, my beloved!

* * *

Maxima hoped that this journey would be rather worth it. She had run into several of the most ignorant people that she had ever found in the entire universe. Her patience was at an end.

She could see a pair of uniformed individuals walk up towards her. Maxima lifted herself up to her full height.

"I'm here to find my soulmate," Maxima said, looking at them.

"Yeah, well a lot of us are looking for that lady, but…" one of the guards commented. He was grabbed around the throat and hurled against the door with a huge crack.

The other guard tried to grab Maxima. The Queen of Almerac threw him down to the ground like he was absolutely nothing and to her, this man was absolutely nothing. She appeared to be fairly bored with the proceedings involved.

"My patience is not infinite, in fact it is at an end!" she called. She placed her hands on her hips and braced herself. "Present yourself to me, my beloved!"

She knew that he was here. Her instincts lead her here.

Suddenly, there was a whoosh behind her. Maxima turned around and saw him standing there, in the shadows. There was another female next to him and she was surprised.

"Well, another Kryptonian, Maxima said. She was going to get a male and a female spouse out of this, well if she was defeated anyway. And she was not going to throw the fight.

"Who are you?" Clark asked.

"It appears that your earth upbringing has left you ignorant on some manners," Maxima said. Clark looked at her. "My name is Maxima, I am the Queen of Almerac and I'm here to search for my king and I will take any consort that I choose as well. And you have been chosen to fight for my hand."

"You want me to fight for your hand?" Clark asked.

"Yes, if you defeat me in combat, you can do whatever you wish to me," Maxima said. "And if you can't defeat me, your life is forfeit."

Clark wondered what he was getting himself into. It turned out Kara was all too willing to tell him about it.

"Clark, please be careful," Kara told him. "She's part of a race of some of the greatest warriors in the universe and well…..they aren't easy to defeat."

"She's putting people in danger by being here, I need to defeat her," Clark said. "So, if I defeat you, then I can do with you as I please?"

"Yes, you may," Maxima said. She really hoped that this would not be a wasted trip. She closed her eyes and rushed at Clark at super speed.

There was a smack where Clark was hit full on straight in the face. He was flying halfway across the field where they stood.

Maxima zipped next to him and she tried to curb stomp him down onto the ground. Clark caught her leg and flipped her up.

She tried to punch Clark, but Clark got out of the way. She tried to aim a kick at him, but Clark avoided it.

"You're insulting me by your lack of combat," Maxima said. She tried to grab Clark, but he used her momentum to fling her onto the ground. She landed hard on the ground.

"I've been taught never to strike a female," Clark informed her. This statement caused Maxima to look at him, in absolute shock.

"Earth must be weak if they taught you such a thing," Maxima answered. She rushed towards Clark and she tried to punch his head in.

Clark grabbed her around the arms in a full nelson and jumped her high into the air. The two of them flew high into the air, with Clark's legs wrapped around her. Maxima could feel the rush into her air.

Kara followed them from behind, just in time to see Maxima getting planted down onto the ground. Clark backed off suddenly and Maxima got to her feet.

"Not bad," Maxima answered. She drilled Clark with a leaping roundhouse kick that took him down. "But, you're going to have to learn not to take your eye off of the ball until we're done."

Maxima drilled Clark down onto the ground. She lifted up a large rock and tried to smash his head in with it in an attempt to get him to fight back.

Kara used her heat vision to destroy the rock and destroy Maxima. Maxima turned around and went towards Kara, spearing her down to the ground. Maxima wrapped her hands around Kara's neck and hurled her down to the ground.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved!" Maxima yelled. She rolled her over and looked into her slightly bruised face. "You could be of use to me, if you learn your p…"

Clark slammed shoulder first into Maxima and that caused her to fly. She landed right into a billboard and landed down onto the ground. Maxima got to her feet and tried to rush Clark once again.

"Yes, now I feel it," Maxima said. Her punch was blocked, when Clark grabbed her, and took her down by the arm. He swung his fist back and nailed her with a punch to the stomach, doubling her over. "Yes, harder, faster, give me everything that you have!"

Maxima felt her blood pumping, but much to her agitation, he was pulling his punches against her. She wanted a fight, not someone who would deny her what she wanted. The Queen was incensed and she tried to push back against him.

"Come on, fight me!" Maxima yelled. She nailed Clark in the ribs and doubled him over.

Clark used his heat vision to cause the gravel underneath her to become sticky. Her feet were stuck in the ground.

He grabbed her around the waist and pushed her down onto the ground. Clark was on top of her in a dominating position, having her pinned down to the ground.

Maxima squirmed next to him. She was not used to being on the bottom. She was trying to struggle against him, but Clark held her down forcefully onto the ground, punishing her completely for what she did.

"You will learn not to put your hands on any of my girls," Clark told her with a warning glowing through his eyes.

"Yes, yes, of course, baby," Maxima said. She struggled against him, but she was down on the ground and unable to break free.

She finally had met her match, and he was not letting her up. In fact, he was tying her hands and legs behind her back, keeping her in place.

"I've won," Clark informed the Queen, looking down at her. "And you said that I can do anything that I want to you, right?"

Maxima nodded and she looked to be equal parts fearful and she was also a bit excited. She had an intense battle and her heart was pumping. On her planet, a good round of sparring was a prelude for some intense sex.

"Yes, you're right, please, anything with me," Maxima said. She felt the crotch of her outfit sticking between her thighs. The redhead nympho was looking up towards Clark.

"I don't know, does she really deserve anything?" Kara asked, walking towards her.

"It is not your call," Maxima answered haughtily, and Clark leaned down, looking Maxima dead on in the eye.

"It's not yours either, because I've won the battle, and you said that I can do anything with you," Clark said. He looked at Maxima in the eyes. "What if I hadn't made up my mind what I wanted to do with you? What if anything meant nothing at all?"

"No, you can't do that!" Maxima whined. She tried to struggle out and she knew that she could, but there was something about how she was tied that made it practically impossible for her to break out. She was caught between a rock and a hard place and that was a very bad place for her to be.

"You know, you said anything, and I beat you at your game."

The next thing Maxima knew, she was in a farmhouse of some sort.

"The most powerful man in the world lives in such a modest place in the world?" Maxima asked. She couldn't believe what she was saying and more importantly, she couldn't believe what she was seeing to be honest.

"Yes, he does, and it's called hard work and dedication," Kara informed the woman. She was pleased to have this haughty warrior woman tied up and at Kal-El's mercy. Especially given the fact that Kara was not too happy about the fact that Maxima knocked her down. "That is something that a spoiled brat such as yourself wouldn't understand."

Something dawned on Kara suddenly. The gorgeous Kryptonian grinned and grabbed her cousin by the shoulder to get his attention.

"You know what would be perfect," Kara said. "Perhaps you should discipline her."

"What do you mean like that?" Maxima asked. Kal was untying her suddenly.

"You are not to do anything unless I tell you to," Kal said. Maxima looked about ready to protest this fact, but she found herself nodding submissively. Her warrior instincts told her another way, but her submissive nature at being dominated by this Alpha threw her in an entirely different direction.

Kara grinned when she watched this. This was going to be very entertaining as far as she was concerned.

"Remove the bottom part of your outfit, all of it," Clark said, as he sat down on a bale of hay. Maxima did as she was told, removing the bottom part of her outfit.

Kara slapped her on her bare ass in response and that caused Maxima to turn around angrily. "How, dare you, you little….."

"Maxima," Clark told her in a commanding voice. "Walk over here and lay across my lap."'

Maxima felt her legs move in a rather obedient manner. She laid up against Clark, her bare ass up in the air.

"This is the first lesson that you're going to learn," Clark informed her. He reached over, and grabbed a paddle off of the wall.

Maxima closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. Clark whacked her ass with the paddle as hard as he could.

"Come on Kal, you can do harder than that," Kara urged him on. The paddle continued to whack across Maxima's ass again and again.

Maxima could feel some amount of pain, but she was also feeling a great deal of pleasure. Each whack against her tight rear caused more juices to spill from her body and she was getting more and more wanton with pleasure. She could not believe what she was feeling. It felt extremely amazing to put things bluntly.

"Are you ready?" Clark asked her ,running his hand against her swollen rear.

"Yes," Maxima begged him.

Clark allowed her to slide down to the ground and caused her to hit her ass down against her heels. She winced. Her healing abilities didn't seem to work as well as she wanted to.

"Why don't you worship your king?" Kara asked. She was enjoying bossing this bitch around, given that Kal-El pretty much gave her permission to do so.

"That sounds like a great idea," Clark said to her. He looked down at Maxima. "I believe you have been well schooled in these arts."

"Yes," Maxima said. She had never done them, but she had seem the demonstrations that her mother had given.

She was about ready to take him and take him hard. The Queen did not know what she was getting herself into.

Kara pulled up a seat to enjoy the show. She thought that she was going to enjoy this. Maxima was on her knees and ready to go.

* * *

Lori returned with the rest of the group. After Clark and Kara had to duck out, she wanted to see if both of them were fine. They both had their secrets apparently, which was more than fine because she had hers.

She stopped at the edge of the barn door which was halfway open. She didn't even notice Chloe and Lana walking up behind her. Lori's mouth hung hallway open when the two of them approached behind her.

"What is it, Lori?" Lana asked her.

She stared at Clark, who had Kara up against one side of him and there was another redhead that was tied up.

"So, it appears that he got his hands on the person that was searching for the Kryptonian," Chloe offered. She managed to ask around enough to get that gossip.

"I say that he got his hands on her alright," Lori said, before she realized what she was saying. "As well as a few other parts of her body."

Chloe placed her hand on her hip and watched the scene. Lori smiled.

"So, Lori, why don't you come in and say hello?" Lana asked.

"Um, I just remembered, I've got to get home," Lori said, giving a nervous smile. It was rather tempting right now, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell her secret, at least not just yet. "I'll leave the two of you to sort this out and I'll be around, um thanks a lot, see you later."

Lana watched Lori leave with a smile on her face. She walked over and looked down at Clark. She kneeled down towards him, a calculating expression in her eyes.

"So, Clark, two for one special, wasn't it?" Lana asked. "Hi, Kara."

"Hey, Lana," Kara said. She didn't look like she regretted what happened at all. It was only bound to happen eventually. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Oh, we're mad alright," Chloe said. She placed her hands on her hips when she stared down at Clark. It was a pretty imposing sight, despite the fact Chloe was the shortest of them all.

Clark was about to explain something, but Lana cut him off. "Yeah, we're pretty mad that neither of us were invited to this little party. But I guess we're going to have to make up for it later."

Clark had some things to tell them, and there was also the matter of what to do with an extremely powerful warrior queen that had been screwed into a stupor. That would be an extremely difficult thing to explain.

"This might be a long story, "Clark confirmed. That caused Chloe to respond with a prominent sigh.

"I'll get coffee."

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Laying Down the Law:**

* * *

Now that she recovered fairly nicely from her ordeal, Maxima felt that she had a bit of explaining to do. Her head felt rattled like one wouldn't believe, but she was able to keep it together, at least for the most part. The Queen of Almarac did look to be fairly out of it, but she was able to explain certain situations.

"So, you attacked Clark," Lana said. She folded her arms underneath her chest and gave Maxima one of those looks. It was a look that could burn through solid metal if given half of the chance.

"I didn't attack him, I merely saw whether or not he was worthy enough to be my mate, and he has proven himself to me," Maxima said. She was now dressed in a pair of normal clothes. They were a rather tight fit, but they would have to do for now, at least until she found her way home. "So, I don't see what the harm was in this situation."

"The harm is that you put a lot of people in danger," Clark said to her. He sat down to face her. "And you could have exposed what I was to the world."

"They should know of your power," Maxima said. "Or are humans too primitive to understand true power, and you think that they would hunt you down like some kind of common animal or…."

"Most humans will," Chloe commented casually. "The world…..well we don't take kindly to those that are different than us. Some of us don't, and Clark cannot be more different. If anyone takes a chance to know him, they will see that he's doing good."

"But many will not take the chance to know him, which gives him all the more reason to leave Earth behind and never look back," Maxima commented to him.

"There must be a reason why you were so desperate to see if I was worthy," Clark said. Maxima rose up to her feet to her full spot.

"She can't control the throne without a mate."

That statement came from Kara. The redhead's gaze flicked over the eyes of the beautiful blue eyed blonde. Despite the contempt that she held towards the women, despite her rather able tongue, Maxima had to concede that she's correct.

"Yes, the death of my parents has thrown me onto the throne at a young age," Maxima said. "By the considerations of your Earth years, I would be considered to be extremely young indeed."

"You're not that much older than us, then," Clark said. "A teenager."

"Yes, I only just hit the maturity process," Maxima agreed.

"And it's hit you well," Chloe said, looking over Maxima. She blushed realizing what she said and shook her head. "Sorry, I just…"

"The compliment is well noted, and I thank you," Maxima said. She remained rather stoic. "We do have a problem that I did not foresee. It appears that after my intercourse, I am more level headed than ever before, and I was able to see that this isn't a simple solution."

"What do you mean?" Clark asked her.

"My planet is always on the cusp of a civil war," Maxima informed him. Clark nodded in response. "There are parties that would like nothing better than to have the Royal family displaced and I am the last member. I was hoping to gain credibility with a mate, but…..if that mate has a home here on Earth, no matter how much I have distaste for this planet, I could not under good conscience ask you to leave that all behind."

"That is actually a surprisingly mature response," Lana said. Maxima's gaze raked over the eyes of the other redhead.

"I might be a bit stubborn at times, but I'm not a monster," Maxima said. She mused thoughtfully. "But there is another problem that I have not foreseen."

The group looked at Maxima and she took that as her opportunity to tell them.

"In the fight I had between Kal and Kara, my transportation orb broke, and I have no way to return home," Maxima said.

It was Clark's turn to look a little sheepish at her. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Maxima told him firmly. She pulled him up to his feet and pulled him into a deep embrace. Her breasts pushed against his chest and she gave him an extremely passionate kiss that was completely and utterly intense.

Clark pulled away with her, barely able to keep the smile off of his face from that kiss that he gave her. She was passionate if anything else, he would have to give her that.

"It was only inevitable that something would happen that would keep me here," Maxima informed him. "Perhaps one could consider it to be karma for my past behavior. But…..I do regret that eventually those on my planet will notice that their ruler is gone, and, I think that it is hard to tell what they would do in my absence."

Chloe and Lana exchanged one of those looks with each other and they knew what was going to happen.

"Maybe we can fix it?" Clark asked. That caused Kara to giggle in response.

"Sorry, sorry," she said, shaking her head. "But, it's just that, I know that you want to help, but such an advanced piece of technology is well beyond either of our capabilities to fix."

Clark's expression deflating was one of the worst things ever.

"Do not pity me or the situation, I was the one who put myself in it," Maxima said.

There was a humming from Lara's crystal. Clark walked over and scooped the crystal up into his hand.

"Yes, Mother, what is it?" Clark asked. He was oddly curious to why she flared up now of all times.

"I may have a solution that can help both of you," Lara said to him. Needless to say, this was something that got Clark's attention.

"Well, if you need to tell me, then I'm all ears," Clark informed her.

"There was a plan encoded into these crystals, when you're ready, to build a magnificent Fortress that you could use," Lara said. "We thought that it would be prudent to do so for an eighteenth birthday present, but the time is now."

"I don't know what it has to do with me," Maxima said.

"Maxima, it has everything to do with you, for it contains an energy portal that will be able to allow you to return home and you can go between your planet and this one at ease," Lara said. "And Kal can if he wishes."

Maxima smiled widely at that thought.

"I do like the sound of that arrangement, especially given that it is the fairest of all," Maxima said.

"I guess that he fucked all of the bitch out of you," Kara commented with a smile.

Maxima stood up to her full height, to the amusement of Chloe and Lana. "Do not mistake my calmer demeanor for weakness. I trust you remember that I knocked you around out there, and….."

"Maxima," Clark told her.

"Yes, my king," Maxima said, following back into line. That caused Chloe and Lana to break out into laughter how well that they fell back into line.

Kara was looking oddly smug at the situation, and Clark slapped her on the ass. It was to tell her to behave to be honest. She could feel Clark's hand print on her ass. Lana and Chloe burst out into laughing even more.

The laughing ceased when Clark's burning gaze raked over both of their faces. The two women folded their arms and looked stoic. They knew when the fun and games were oever.

"Kara, see what you need to do with my mother," Clark said. Kara nodded in agreement. "I have to visit someone…..she ran out before I had a chance to properly greet her last night."

Lana gave Chloe a wicked grin the moment when Clark was gone. "Well, Miss Lori Lemaris can run, but she can't hide."

* * *

Lori sighed, she couldn't believe that she blew the big one and not in a sense that she could blow the big one. She was in the presence of what might be a god, and she made an excuse to run away.

'_Well, you're doomed, you silly girl,' _Lori thought, shaking her head.

She was put up in a nice and luxurious house. The swimming pool was just as nice and just as luxurious, stretching as far as the eye could see. Lori was put up in this house by some very influential people that would see to her comfort, because she was supposed to be scouting this place. It was far from her own home, but at the same time, it had come home.

Lori was currently relaxing on the sofa, drinking a refreshing glass of water and just thinking about how awkward school would be on Monday when she had to face Clark, Lana, and Chloe.

A knock on the door caused her to jolt up to her feet and nearly trip over the rug. She would have thought that within six months she would be used to constant usage of legs, but she was still struggling a little bit.

Lori made her way to the door, quickly as she could go. She pulled the door open and came face to face with the brilliant blue eyes of Clark Kent.

She looked at him, with surprise in her eyes. "Clark, um hi!"

"How are you doing, Lori?" Clark asked her. "You ran out last night, and I was looking to see whether or not you were okay."

Lori looked sheepish and crossed her arms over her chest. She peered down onto the ground and then looked back at Clark. "Well, after what I saw, I was caught completely off guard."

"Yeah, I thought that Chloe and Lana explained parts of that to you," Clark said. Lori nodded in response, with a sweet little smile on her face.

"Well, seeing it and hearing about it are two different things," Lori said. She looked over her shoulder. "Are you…"

"I have powers, as you might have figured out," Clark said.

"Yes, you're something special," Lori said. She invited Clark inside and she walked forward. She swayed her ass a little bit instinctively and she nearly fell over.

"There's something more to you, isn't there?" Clark asked. Lori turned around, realizing that Clark's arm was wrapped around her waist. He pulled her up to face him and there was a smile that deepened on her face. "I mean, no offense, but you're not the most graceful person ever to walk on a set of legs."

"Oh, I agree," Lori conceded. She hated to admit it, but she was a bit of a klutz and really clumsy as well. She kept falling over to the point of absurdity. "That's because….well it's not something that I can tell you, I just have to show you."

"Well, don't let me stop you," Clark informed her.

Lori made her way outside. Clark noticed the bracelet that she was wearing.

"I have a bracelet and a necklace, both of them serve the same purpose, just depends on which one I feel like wearing that day," Lori informed him. Clark responded with a nod of agreement when she lead him outside.

The door slid open and the two of them stopped right outside of a luxurious pool. Lori removed her bracelet and it dropped down.

"I can naturally hold this ability with two legs, but if I get wet, then that's an entire problem," Lori said. She jumped into the pool water, clothes in all.

Clark watched, when her body shifted a little bit. He looked through the transparent white top that she was wearing, seeing the outline of her breasts. Her jeans ripped off and there was a fish tail where she was. She looked at Clark with a smile.

"You have your secret?" Lori asked. "Well this is mine."

"Right," Clark informed her. "So, that explains the awkwardness with the legs, and why you're a natural swimmer."

"Yeah, this is my natural form…..have you ever heard of Atlantis?" Lori asked. Clark nodded in response. "It's real, although the myths don't do it justice at all."

She motioned for Clark to hand her the bracelet. He did so and her legs were back intact. Clark helped her out of the pool.

He blinked suddenly and Lori realized something. Not only was the white top she was wearing clinging to her breasts, causing the outline of it to become visible, but she was naked from the waist down.

"Good thing that you're wearing the bracelet, because you being wet now could be a problem," Clark joked.

Lori stopped and stared, seeing Clark's pants about ready to give way. She couldn't help licking her lips.

"Yes, is…..oh, that looks….." Lori said. She felt faint and she dropped to her knees, to examine the merchandise. "I want you so badly."

"Then take what you want," Clark informed her. This Alpha male could feel a tingle in his pants and he could feel her hand slide into his pants.

Lori was going to take what she wanted. She thought that she had been teased more than enough. She was so horny for him right now. She had woken up several times with sticky bedsheets because of the dreams that she had about him, and that was before she knew how special that he was.

She pulled his pants down and then his boxer shorts to reveal the glory that came underneath.

* * *

Kara thought that she would enjoy life here in Smallville greatly, especially now that she had been here for a couple of weeks and had her memories fully restored. The Kents were rather nice and accommodating, although they weren't the happiest that a Warrior Queen that had attacked several people was camping out in their barn. Clark and Lara managed to help smooth that one over and Kara was glad that they were able to be diplomatic enough to do so.

She had been settled into Smallville High School rather quickly and sure enough, the madness that came with school was more or less the same on Earth then it was on Krypton. Kara was ready to see what it would bring her.

Clark was in the process of showing her around Smallville. The two of them had their arms interlinked when they walked together. Kara was glad that she was in the group with Chloe, Lana, and now Lori. Maxima, well not so much, but Kara thought that she was getting better. She had to admit that she could be petty and hold a grudge about as much as the next person.

Kara did much appreciate this time. She had to arrange it with Lana, but she was glad. And the way that she had to earn this favor wasn't that bad either. Also, she was now a cheerleader, as well, but she figured that might be fun.

"So, how are you enjoying Smallville?" Clark asked her.

"Nice and quiet, I think that I'll really like it here," Kara informed him. She snugly wrapped herself into Clark's shoulder when the two of them started to walk about town. She kept close towards him. "But, there isn't much to do."

"Well, except fight a meteor mutant every other day," Clark told her. Kara raised her eyebrow. "It's with an alarming amount of regularity when that happens."

"I figured as much," Kara agreed. She was frowning at the thought of it. It looked to be a very dangerous world out there. "Then again, who expected half of our planet exploding and then the fallout it would cause."

"No one could have seen that coming," Clark commented. "So, Lana roped you into being a cheerleader, didn't she?"

"It wasn't too bad, I think that it might be fun," Kara said. "Lana thought that I would look good in the outfit though."

"Well, if you wanted a second opinion, I'd agree," Clark said. Kara smiled when she closed in closer to Clark.

"So, is there really anything else to do, other than walk around and do chores?" Kara asked. She added the third thing that came to her mind. "Oh, and to fight evil, you really can't forget about fighting evil."

"Trust me, I didn't forget about fighting evil," Clark said. "But, there is a nice little museum here in Smallville. Better support it while we can, because there are people who might want to shut it down."

"Why would people want to tear down a place of such great culture?" Kara asked. She shook her head.

"Some people don't support places like that anymore," Clark said. He could tell that Kara had a rant about that on the tip of her tongue and he was about ready to join in with her, but that would have to wait.

The two of them could hear something inside the museum. The guard was down on the ground and there were two museum officials down as well.

Kara was tense immediately. While she was getting a hang of her powers, she wasn't completely comfortable with them. She was getting much better, with Clark's help, and Lara was helping where she was. Jor-El was about as fun as he used to me, but Kara was content to ignore him.

Never mind that though, Kara was looking around the museum, to see what kind of trouble there was. There was plenty of trouble, there was more trouble.

Another museum official was down on the ground and she looked to be rather battered. She must have been the curator of some sort. Clark stepped forward and looked down at her.

"She has a pulse, but it's a faint one," Clark said.

"Who do you think is causing this?" Kara asked. Her voice was a bit shaky and a bit more nervous as well. She didn't even pretend that she liked where this was heading.

"I think that's your answer," Clark informed her and Kara turned around.

There was some female with a hood pulled over the top of her head. She fiddled with a glass case and was trying to bust it open. The security was giving her a hard time.

"I believe the signs were clear," Clark said. The woman turned around and Clark could see that she was wearing some kind of mask that resembled a cheetah. That caused him to frown in response. "No one is to come behind the ropes."

"What are you, the local boy scout?" the thief scoffed, shaking her head. "Get out of the way, kid."

"I'm not going to get out of the way, not when you're breaking and entering," Clark said.

While the two were distracted, that caused Kara to get behind the thief in an attempt to take her out. The thief had some being good senses though and she turned around, almost taking Kara's head off in the process with a fairly violent roundhouse style kick. Kara arched back, nearly avoiding getting her head taken cleanly off in the process.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a powder of some sort. It ignited and caused Clark to be launched back. Kara was grabbed by the hair and hurled backwards as well.

The woman decided to avoid all pretext of being stealthy. She picked up a hammer and smashed it through the case. Shattered glass flew pretty much in every direction when the woman in question reached into the case and scooped up the artifact.

Kara and Clark recovered. They couldn't believe how fast this woman was running. It was almost like she was as fast as a cheetah as well.

Clark sped right in front of her. The woman stopped.

"I thought I told you to buzz off, kid," the woman answered. She went for a roundhouse attack, but Clark blocked it and flipped her onto the ground.

"Not, until you give me some answers," Clark said. The woman touched an amulet on her neck and she disappeared suddenly, before Clark could have any answers.

Kara showed up behind Clark and she was confused. "She….she disappeared. It was just like magic, wasn't it?"

That caused Clark to groan. There were some things that he could handle. A meteor mutant for example, he could honestly handle that. It wouldn't be the best thing in the world for him, but he could honestly handle that.

Magic on the other hand, that was something that caused even the most hardened of individuals to shake their head in frustration. Kara grabbed Clark and she had another statement for him.

"I was just thinking, what if that cheetah mask….what if it wasn't really a mask?" Kara asked.

Clark was afraid that she would say something like that. He would have to agree.

"Maybe if we found out what she stole, we would have better luck," Clark offered her. Kara frowned and Clark could see what she was frowning.

"Little late to the party, aren't they?" Kara asked.

Clark shook his head. With the local law enforcement swimming around like they were, it was going to be borderline difficult to get what they needed. It wasn't going to be impossible, it was just going to be extremely difficult.

"So, what do you think that we should do?" Kara asked. She had to defer to Clark because he had more experience doing something like this.

Clark frowned when he thought about it. He was pondering the situation, but at the moment, he didn't really have anything that remotely resembled a lead.

"See if we can come back later," Clark said. It was getting crowded for them and the only good thing was that they were not attacked. That was about the only good thing that came out of all of this madness.

He was counting his blessings that nothing really bad happened right now. He led Kara away and the two of them were ready to return later.

* * *

A bus pulled up outside of an inn just at the edge of Smallville. It was not that odd to see, in fact there was a bus stop there.

The woman who exited the bus, she was a sight to see. She had dark black hair, that was clipped back in a bun. She wore a pair of dark glasses that covered her face and she was wearing a female business suit. Despite the fact the suit rather looked modest, it was hard to hide the amazing figure that this particular woman had. She had a body that was tone and firmed, and her legs were slightly visible on the edge of the skirt.

She walked with a purpose and style that many women would give anything to have. The woman approached the inn, and the people who were sitting at the inn were spellbound by her presence. To say that they were blown away would be putting things rather mildly, they were completely shocked to see such a beauty in their presence.

"Can, I help you?" a man asked. He was one of the more politer men there, likely because he wasn't two beers over the legal limit.

"I was hoping that you could help me find someone, it's urgent that I find her," the woman said, with a polite tone and a bit of a regal smile added to her face.

"Who are you look for Miss….." the man said.

"Call me, Diana," she told him with a smile. She held a picture out and one of the other patrons at the inn looked over.

"That's that crazy chick in a cheetah mask that was robbing the museum," the man said.

"Yeah, she broke in, caused a lot of property damage, and stole something," another man said.

Diana knew that she had a pretty fair lead, at least she knew that Cheetah was there.

"Guess she might be one of those meteor freaks, because she can move pretty damn fast," one of the patrons commented. "My brother was a guard, he got knocked out, you never saw anything so fast."

Diana thought that she was on the right track. This was a dangerous fugitive that she had been task to bring in and it brought her to the sleepy little town of Smallville. It seemed like a quaint place to visit, although she sensed an undercurrent of something more.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: The Hunt Part One.**

* * *

Kara wasn't going to lie, out of all the things that she did, attending high school might have been the thing that made her just a little bit nervous. She found herself dressed in a tight black shirt that rode up a little bit to show her toned midsection. The pair of jean shorts did a wonderful job of showcasing her magnificent long legs. There were a few boys that looked at her, but she didn't pay them much mind. All they were was a bunch of insignificant little boys and Kara was with a real man.

Clark threw his arm around her and pulling her in. The blonde allowed her hair, which was in a ponytail, to fall back. "Is it just me, or does it look like half of the boys in this school want to kill you?"

Clark surveyed the scene and turned back to Kara. "It's not just you."

The two of them joined Chloe and Lana at a table in the corner. Obviously some of the girls gave Lana a dirty look as well. The redhead paid them no mind, in fact, she waved at them in response.

"You just love trying to rile people up, don't you?" Chloe asked.

"Hey, it isn't my fault the entire lot of them are immature little bitches," Lana responded. She could see Clark and Kara sit down. She turned her attention towards Kara. "So, how as your first day here?"

"You were right, it wasn't much different….well the subjects are oddly simplistic, but the people's attitudes, that was oddly the same," Kara said. She whipped her head back and sighed. "Way too much drama."

"Such is the life at high school, even out in the middle of bumville nowhere," Chloe responded, shaking her head. She cupped her hand underneath her chin, looking extremely thoughtful. "Boy, it looks like half of the boys in this school want to kill you."

Kara giggled. It was something that she wouldn't normally do. "Oh, that's just what I said."

Lana snorted. "Please, Clark could take them, you know that he could."

"Thank you for that assessment in my abilities, Lana," Clark said. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is that a bruise?" Lana asked. She hadn't noticed that on the back of Clark's neck. Then again, she had not given him a careful inspection in quite a number of days. "Who could have attacked you and given you a bruise."

Clark sighed. "Well, that's an interesting tale."

"Well, obviously, boy of steel, there's an interesting tale behind it," Chloe replied. She closed her eyes and smiled. "Who could attack you and bruise you?"

"Apparently, magic affects Kryptonians about as much as anything else," Kara said. She kept her voice really low.

"Magic?" Chloe asked. She was skeptical, even though she shouldn't be given all of that she saw and heard about. "You mean, hocus pocus, pull a rabbit out of a hat, do a card trick, that type of magic."

"Magic is fairly complex, more so than that," Kara explained. "Those slight of hand tricks are just that. Some people are good at deception. There might be a moderate amount of magical talent there, I don't know. But mostly it's just smoke, mirrors, and tricks. The magic I'm referring to can warp the fabric of reality."

Lana nodded. She found this to be all interesting, but being who she was, she just had to press on a little bit. "Yes, that's intriguing, but who exactly bruised Clark?"

Clark drew in his breath and launched into an explanation regarding what happened. How a simple outing with Kara turned a bit violent. He didn't mention it, because well if he had mentioned all of his escapades to his girls, that would get drawn out pretty quickly.

"The real question is what she was after, "Chloe answered. She shook her head. "I can't believe that some woman in a cheetah mask got the drop on you."

"You know, that shocks you about as much as it does me," Clark told her. He rubbed the back of his neck. Lana took over, using her finger to stimulate and relax the area on the back of his neck. He closed his eyes. "Kara's theory that it was magic works well."

Chloe, being Chloe, was already hard to work on her tablet. The young reporter was trying to type it in.

"She's everywhere, either there's some thief who is a furry or there's something really up," Chloe said. "She's been hitting museums all over Kansas, without too much of a problem. The guards share that she moves about as fast as a cheetah. It could be a meteor mutant."

"Maybe," Clark said. He was skeptical. "Although, aren't you sure you want it to be a meteor mutant so you can make some kind of big deal about it?"

"Clark, I make a big deal out of everything, you should know that by now," Chloe said. She gave him one of her winning smiles. "But, you were jumped, and if I know you, you're not going to rest until you figure out what's going on and more importantly, who is behind this?"

Clark would have to say that Chloe had him pegged there. Kara reached underneath the table and grabbed his hand.

He was glad that he had someone to back him up out there now. Call him crazy, but he perfectly was happy to leave his life in his cousin's extremely able and talented hands.

* * *

Clark looked up at what Chloe found. He found out that being a hero was more than the physical end of the things. It was about the mental end of things as well. There was a lot of detective work involved and Clark frowned when he thought about some of the work involved.

Kara joined him in front of the museum. She wrinkled her nose when she smelled the sewers that were being working up.

"This is quite the place to put a museum," Kara said. Clark turned towards her and gave her a bit of a warning look.

"But this is the next spot on the list," Clark said.

"If she sticks to a pattern," Kara said.

She looked off to the side and she saw a shifty looking woman in a hooded sweatshirt slip her way into the museum.

"And she's following her pattern to a tee," Clark informed Kara. Kara sighed when she spoke and Clark reached over, grabbing her by the hand. "Let's move."

The two of them made their way into the museum. The guards already had been knocked out. Clark thought that it could be much worse, she could have killed the guards.

The woman made her way to the case and was about ready to open it up. Clark sped in front of her, putting himself between her and the case.

"I'm sorry, but what's in there, doesn't belong to you," Clark told her.

"You again?" the woman asked. She seemed annoyed, very annoyed. "I thought the last time we fought, you would have had enough of me."

"Step back, and no one needs to get hurt," Clark said.

Kara shook her head. Clark really needed to learn pretty quick that line seldom went over well with psychopaths.

"Really, shouldn't you be helping old ladies cross the street, boy scout?" the woman asked, practically taunting him. "You say that what's in that case doesn't belong to me, but it doesn't belong to you, either."

The woman jumped halfway into the air and she lashed out her claws. Said claws swiped against Clark and she backed off.

"It doesn't belong to the museum either," the woman said. She charged Clark.

Clark blocked her hands and shoved her away. He nailed her with a punch to the stomach which doubled her over.

Kara jumped towards the woman and took her down, spearing her into the wall. The woman grimaced and Kara charged her.

The woman moved so fast out of the way that Kara could have sworn that she was a teleporter. Kara found her knuckles slam hard against the ground never the less. She closed her eyes when she backed off. Her heart kept racing just a little quicker every moment.

The woman appeared behind Clark and scratched him on the back of the neck. Her claws shined in the light.

Clark winced and the Cheetah pounced on top of Clark. Kara rushed towards her, with a leg kick. The Cheetah dodged it.

The young man on the floor could feel dizziness go within him. Kara was right, something enhanced her claws and she had magical powers.

Kara picked up a large stone slab and hurled it at the Cheetah. She dodged it and Cheetah jumped up into the air, taking Kara down with a violent attack.

"And now, I'm going to take you out just like I did with your boyfriend," The Cheetah said. She lifted her claws, ready to give Kara the same.

A lasso flew out of nowhere and latched onto her arm, pulling the Cheetah out of the way. She flew onto the ground.

Kara looked up and saw a woman that was the pinnacle of absolute stunning beauty. She had dark hair that shined in the light and blue eyes. Her face looked to be that of royalty with high cheek bones and juicy lips. She wore a silver choker on her neck, a red top that showed a hint of cleavage. It was wrapped around her amazing firm breasts and met down to her flat stomach. A pair of tight black pants fit around her lower body. She held her arms up which had a pair of silver bracelets.

"You!" Cheetah snarled.

"I don't know what you're after, but I'm going to put a stop to it," the woman said.

Cheetah laughed in response at the woman's bold tone. "You don't know the forces that you're dealing with."

The Cheetah rushed the woman. The woman dodged her attack with swift precision. She caught the fur faced woman in the rebound with a huge punch to the stomach which doubled her over and pretty much knocked the wind out of her. Cheetah slumped over, breathing heavily. Another punch rocked her in the stomach.

Cheetah shook her head and staggered back. The woman she fought nailed her with a vicious roundhouse kick to the face.

"I'm taking you back where you belong," the raven haired beauty stated.

Cheetah snarled, clutching something in her hand. "Forget it, I'm never going back!"

She caused dust to fly up into the air and blind her enemy. The dark haired woman stepped back, shaking her head.

Seconds past before the woman in question disappeared into the portal, and she left without any kind of trace.

Princess Diana of Themscrycira turned around and spotted the young man on the ground. She gasped.

"Is there anything that I can do to help?" she asked the blonde. "My name is Diana."

"Kara," she said shakily. She really didn't have any medical training. That was one of the lessons that her mother didn't get to. Besides, Lara was the doctor. "He got scratched with Cheetah's claws. I love him, I don't want him to die."

Diana nodded. There were many questions that went through her mind. He shouldn't have been able to survive the attack with the claws. The wonderous woman was struck with one astonishing conclusion and that was that she was dealing with no mortal man. She reached into her back.

Time for questions now, it is a time of healing. She pulled out some herbs and placed them on the back of the young man's neck.

"This should stabilize him, at least until we can get him some more direct medical attention," Diana said. She helped Kara lift him up. "Do you know of a place where you can take him?"

"Yes, I do," Kara confirmed.

"Then I will leave you to lead the way," Diana said. The two of them flashed off at super speed.

Kara had a lot of questions, way too many questions. They would have to wait.

* * *

Maxima sat in the middle of the Kent Farm. She had to admit that wasn't the accommodations that she expected the most powerful man in the universe to have, but in some ways, it showed how hard he was willing to work. If nothing else, Maxima could respect that, even if she didn't live the hard knock life herself.

She had to meet his parents, both sets of parents in fact. The Warrior Queen sat herself on the bean bag chair that was in the barn. It was not a throne, but it would have to do.

She could see Lara's portal AI program was on and she turned towards the woman. "I got the distinct impression that the adopted parents you chose for Kal did not much care for my presence here."

"Well, you did make an unfavorable impression when you showed up," Lara reminded her. "You caused a lot of mayhem."

"Yes, as Miss Sullivan reminded me, I needed to get laid," Maxima said. The fact she said such a way in her regal accent made the observation that much more comical.

"Kal sorted you out in the end," Lara said. She was rather proud of her son for taming the haughty alien queen. Her son was building quite a group and she supposed that she should thank Lana for being open minded enough to share Clark. After all, sharing was caring. Lara wondered if some kind of reward was.

"Yes, he did, and it was worth being sorted out," Maxima answered. "I must thank you for talking with Jonathan and Martha regarding….the situation."

"They understood, even if they didn't like it,' Lara said.

"Believe me, the living arrangements aren't the most idea," Maxima said. She rather enjoyed the county air, but she could deal with some of the smells.

There was a reason why she had servants to clean up after her horses. It was the right of the queen to avoid such pleasures after all.

"Jor-El and I will be done with the Fortress soon enough, the final downloads are in process right now," Lara informed her. "And then you can go home to greet your people."

"Yes, I'll be glad of it and I'm sure that they'll be surprised that I actually found a mate that was suitable for me," Maxima said. It was a bit of a source of ridicule by her enemies.

Most of the male population of her planet had been cut down in their attempts to court her. Maxima felt bad, but they were the ones that chose to duel for her hand. Many of them had high opinions of themselves.

Maxima's eyes snapped towards the front entrance of the barn. Her lips curled into a tight frown when she saw a tall dark haired woman standing there. She was dressed in warrior garb.

"Who are you?" Maxima asked.

"My name is Diana, I am the princess of Themyscira."

The woman's announcement didn't faze Maxima. She didn't show respect for a mere princess. "You better have your reasons for presenting yourself here."

"I am looking for Lara," Diana said. "Her son has been injured in combat."

"What?" Lara asked.

Certainly, Kara turned up, and she half dragged Clark. Diana helped her drag Clark the rest of the way.

"Oh, I can barely stand," Clark said.

"You can at least talk, and that's the main thing," Diana said. Most people who had been inflicted by the type of poison Cheetah used in her claws had spent a lot of time not really breathing. "Just….I've done what you can, Kara told me that you're a doctor, and you can solve this problem."

Clark sat down on the chair. One of his pupils dilated when he was placed down to face Lara.

"The poison was extracted from this herb when it was heated in a volcano," Diana said. She held the herb. "The contents are benign when they are at their normal, non-altered state, in fact…..they can heal the altered state."

Lara already was scanning Clark. Maxima gave Diana one of those looks that indicated that she blamed her for Clark's condition.

"Maxima," Kara said. Kara sighed. She was now getting the intense look of royal blame coming from Maxima and to be honest, she didn't really like it at all. Kara folded her arms and glared back. "Look, I'm not really in the mood for your attitude, so if you could shove it for about five minutes. Clark was caught off guard."

"It's my fault, I didn't keep my eye on the ball," Clark said. Lara treated the wounds.

"This would be a lot easier if the Fortress was completed, but it's doable," Lara said. "He just needs an extra charge to jump start the healing process. Kara, could you fly him into the sun?"

If Kara thought anything odd from these orders, she didn't say anything. Kara grabbed Clark around the waist and she shot out of the open window like a cork.

"The sun?" Diana asked.

Maxima looked towards Diana with a look of smug superiority. "Yes, because his powers are derived from the sun. Therefore, it will super charge his cells and jump start his healing process."

The young Amazon Princess folded her arms. She felt she was dealing with a spoiled brat that got her way. Her mother was fairly firm with her if she got out of line and Diana found herself knocked on her ass several times on combat if she got too far out of line. Her backside still had the marks from when this happened.

Clark and Kara flew back down to Earth.

"Mother, it worked," Clark told her.

"Yes, I'm certain it would," Lara said. Her attention turned towards Diana. "Diana, mind I ask you what your role in this is?"

"I come from a nation of woman known as Themyscira," Diana said. "I'm certain that you might have heard of the Amazons."

"You mean they're real?" Clark asked.

Diana laughed. "I am standing right with you."

"Fair enough point," Clark said. "And I guess that I don't have room to talk, being an alien or anything."

"No, you honestly don't," Diana agreed. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him. He was the first young man around her age that she saw up close and personal, that had powers that could match hers anyway. "I was tracking a woman named Barbara Ann Minerva. She used a totem that transformed her into the Cheetah. A totem she stole from the Amazons. My mother tasked me with bringing her back and having her stand trial."

Diana was not going to disappoint her mother. She did know that Cheetah had help from someone.

"Let us know if we can do anything to help," Clark said.

Diana shook her head. "I appreciate the offer for help, but I think that I can handle it from here."

"You know, it won't hurt if the three of us work together," Kara said. She gave Diana a firm gaze, meeting her eyes. "Because, you know that she has friends, some extremely powerful friends at that."

"How do you know that?" Diana asked.

"It's just a hunch that I have," Kara said. She met Diana's eyes and had an idea that she was right. "And judging by the look in your eyes, you think that I'm right."

* * *

Barbara Ann Minerva, better known as Cheetah, made her way down a street. It was a dusty road, down what one could be considered an extremely shady part of town. Two extremely powerful artifacts carefully were placed in a satchel towards her side.

That meddling boy was taken care of at the very least, but she had another problem. The girl that was with him, along with Hippolyta's bitch of a daughter had interfered.

She made her way to a slimy little shop on the corner. A hanging sign hovered from above the door and it had the word "FAUST" etched on it. Cheetah pushed the door open.

There were several shelves stocked with a variety of items that she didn't dare ask the backstory behind. A hanging noose hovered in the background and she could have sworn that it moved. There was a chair in the back of the shop that legend has it, claimed thirteen people who had sat in it.

It was a bunch of cursed relics in other words, nothing that anyone in their right mind would even fathom putting their hands on. No one accused the man in question that she visited of being in his right mind.

"My dear pet, enter."

The shadowy voice from the edge of the counter caused the hairs on the back of Cheetah's neck to stand up. She hated when this….this man called her his pet. It felt entirely and utterly demeaning to her to say the very least.

Respectfully, she stepped forward into the shadows. She placed the satchel on the desk.

"This is two of the artifacts that I need, I was under the assumption you would have all three."

Cheetah decided that it was best to inform him. "There were complications. Hippolyta's daughter intervened and stopped me from procuring the third."

Needless to say, Cheetah's benefactor did not seem too please. In fact, the woman stepped back when she heard the windows rattling around her.

"The Amazons getting involved does complicate things," the man said. "But no matter, Felix Faust is adaptable if anything else."

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: The Hunt Part Two.**

* * *

Clark and Diana were back on the hunt. They agreed to work together because quite frankly the two of them needed each other badly. Diana had the knowledge and the experience to track Cheetah and Clark knew all about the area around Smallville. Therefore, the two of them working together made almost all sense.

"The third artifact, she needs it to complete the ritual," Diana said.

Clark shook his head. "And it's a race to find it now."

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea where it might be," Diana said. She allowed her shoulders to come down in a shrugging motion. "But it's the fact that she knows where it is."

Clark remembered what she told him. The three artifacts separated had been completely useless. The three artifacts combined together could bring something to the world that was completely dangerous. Clark folded his fingers together and awaited to see what he could do next. He could see Diana's eyes flicker. She scanned the area around her expertly.

"Are you ready to do this?" Clark asked. He could see Diana tense up.

Diana nodded, her jaw firmly set. She held her hands against her crossbow. "Yes, I'm ready."

There was few things that got the blood of an Amazon flowing as well as a good hunt. She was ready. Armed with a crossbow, Diana was ready to take down the Cheetah and hopefully they would be one step closer to finding her master. While Cheetah was a fugitive that Diana needed to bring in.

"Maybe you should stay out here and keep watching," Diana said. She looked at Clark.

"She caught me off guard last time," Clark informed her. Diana frowned when she looked at him. Clark grabbed her gently by her hands. Firmly, but gently at the same time. "It won't happen again."

Diana nodded. They would waste a lot of time arguing about whether or not Clark could handle this and that was not something that either of them wanted to do. She could see a part of the door cracked.

"She can teleport in with magic, but she broke the door down," Clark said. He realized something. Diana tightened the firm grip that she had on his hand. "It's a trap, we're walking into, isn't it?"

"Yes," Diana agreed. She pushed the side doors open and steadied her hand. She aimed the crossbow in her hand.

She shot a crossbow bolt in the hallway. It landed on the ground and disintegrated in an instant. Diana's eyebrow raised when she looked down onto the ground. She turned around and gripped Clark firmly around the wrist.

The two of them hovered over the ground, carefully avoiding not hitting the ground. Not that it was a matter for someone that flew. There was something that made them light headed.

"Keep your wits about yourself," Diana warned Clark. There was an enchantment down this hallway that made them want to hit the ground and they both knew that hitting the ground would lead to some really bad things.

Diana's head shook when they kept hovering over the ground. Her heart started to race even faster.

She could sense that her prey was close. Sure enough, she saw the Cheetah crouched against the side of a glass case.

The Cheetah didn't notice them at first. She fumbled with the lock trying to allow her inside.

"The game is over, Cheetah."

Cheetah turned around and saw Princess Diana there. She raised her claws and gave a hiss. "It's just like you Amazons, interfering. I can have everything that I want!"

"Whatever you're doing, it's not worth it," Diana said. "You should give up now!"

"Well, Miss High and Mighty, we'll see if it's worth it to be your mother's lapdog," Cheetah said. She got on her hands and knees, like her namesake and motioned for Diana to bring it.

Clark and Diana dropped to the ground. Seconds later, Diana pounced Cheetah. She tried to take her down. Cheetah avoided Diana's attack. She was pretty skilled hand to hand and Diana was amazing. Clark caught himself watching the fight between the two of them. Cheetah balled up her fist and tried to punch Diana hard. Diana avoided it.

Cheetah pulled a sword off of the wall and swung it. Diana blocked the sword with her hands and pushed her back. The two of them continued to go hand to hand. Diana caught Cheetah flush in the midsection with a vicious kick and caused her to doubled over. The wind was knocked completely out of her.

Cheetah was down on the ground and Diana kneeled on top of her with a slightly triumphant pose. "Are you going to give up?"

"Not yet!" Cheetah said. She blew some gold dust into Diana's face. That caused her to lift off the ground.

Cheetah grabbed Diana by the hair and slammed her down onto the ground. Before she could move into the kill, Clark grabbed Cheetah by the waist and yanked her off of her. Cheetah struggled and she found herself be lifted off the ground.

"You don't have the guts to really take me down!" Cheetah yelled. She tried to nail Clark with her claws again.

This time Clark saw the attack blocking. He dodged out of the way and landed on the ground. The wind was knocked out Cheetah.

Diana was back into the fight and she used her Lasso to tie Cheetah up. It wrapped around Cheetah. She struggled and tried to break out. Diana pulled Cheetah forward. The Amazon Princess looked positively intense when she stared Cheetah in the eyes. "You're going to tell me exactly what you were up to."

Cheetah realized that she couldn't do anything about this. "I'm finding the three artifacts….the three artifacts for a man named Felix Faust."

Diana's eyebrow rose. Faust, she heard the name before. A few seconds of thinking made her remember exactly where she heard this particular name and she almost wished that she didn't hear it.

"Faust, what's he planning?" Diana asked.

Cheetah shook her head. Her eyes glazed over when she tried to stare down Diana.

"I don't know what he's planning, he didn't tell me," Cheetah answered. She could feel herself gag against the pull of the lasso.

Clark frowned in response. "She doesn't know what he's planning, are you sure she isn't trying to….."

"She can't, this lasso is a magical artifact that compels anyone who it ensnares to tell the truth," Diana responded. Clark raised his eyebrow and nodded.

Cheetah laughed at both of them. Clark's eyes cast over her in a weary manner. Perhaps it was just him, but he just had a really bad feeling about this. And when Clark Kent had a pretty bad feeling about something, you could take it to the bank that something really bad might be ready to go down.

"What do you find so funny?" Diana asked.

"Oh, it's really amusing, after all of that, neither of you are going to leave here alive and I'm going to walk out with the artifact," Cheetah said. There was something detached about her voice, inhumane.

"She can't say falsehoods with that lasso," Diana said. She felt her nerves heighten. Something really bad was going to happen. There was a rattling sound behind her.

The statues in the museum, they seemed to have minds of their own when they came to life. They had weapons on them and their eyes glowed almost ominiously. Clark and Diana stood side by side.

"Statues coming to life to attack me," Clark said. He breathed in. "I have to admit, it's a new one."

"Not for some people it isn't," Diana said. One of the statues shot a bolt of light at her. "And I'm not sure if that's beyond their capabilities or not."

Clark maneuvered two of the statues in place. They both tried to attack him. Both of the statues smashed each other. Rubble and marble flew in pretty much every single direction when the dust of the statues crumbled down to the ground.

Diana dodged the sword of the statue and disarmed it. She used the sword of the statue.

"Clark, is everything alright?" Chloe asked. She had been on the headset, keeping an eye out for them for anything suspicious. This was the first time she spoke up. "Because, there's a huge amount of static in my ear, and as much money as I paid for these headsets, they shouldn't be given that much static."

"Just an abundance of magic in the air," Clark informed her.

"Isn't magic one of your….oh boy," Chloe said. She closed her eyes with a long sigh.

Clark didn't say anything. He allowed Diana to take them down. His eyes scanned over more of the stone soldiers that made their way into the museum. They all marched towards Clark and Diana.

"So, how many statues do they have?" Clark asked. His heat vision only had a moderate effect on them. Smashing them with his fist with all the subtly of a blunt brick seemed to work wonders better though.

"Judging by the amount that is going after us, dozens," Diana said. She used her shield to block the sword. "More than enough to trample most of us."

There were more came down the steps. Clark wondered how many levels this museum had. Whoever ran it had some kind of stone statue fetish. They were making their way back down the stairs.

A red haired female showed up and took several of the statues down. Maxima showed up and she looked intense. She was going to show that she just wasn't a royal that did nothing.

"Back away from my mate and his concubine!" Maxima thundered. She raised her hands and smashed the statues with a feral fury.

Diana raised her eyebrow and turned to Clark with a questioning look. "Concubine?"

Clark knew that he would have to have a serious talk with Maxima later. Right now he had to focus on the small fact of not getting his head caved in. That was kind of an important thing. He turned towards Diana. "Watch your back!"

Diana watched her back and she took out three of them in one shot. Maxima's arrival caused Diana's fury to be renewed. It seemed like she was trying to outdo the Warrior Queen by taking out more of the stone statues.

It made Clark realize that Diana and Maxima were thrashing pretty much all of the stone warriors, which left him with little, if anything to do. He could feel a little bit distracted from that.

A hand was placed on his hand and Clark turned around. Kara hovered behind him and she was equal parts amused and annoyed. "You know, if you want, the two of us can go watch a movie and we can just let these two clean up. I think that they've got everything well in hand."

"And leave them along with each other?" Clark asked. Kara raised her eyebrow. "Do you honestly realize how dangerous that is?"

Kara thought that Clark did have a point. She did have some amusement in seeing Diana and Maxima finish off the stone statues.

The two of them turned around when they were done and they squared off for a few seconds. Their eyes locked onto each other and it looked like they were going to throw down after a couple of seconds.

Clark, sensing danger better than anyone else, cleared his throat. Both warriors turned around towards Clark and they nodded, backing off each other respectfully.

"She got away," Diana said.

Maxima smiled when she stared at Diana. "Well, I'm sure that's not a reflection on you, not finishing her off when she had a chance."

"That's not how we do things," Clark told her.

"Of course, my king, I forgot myself," Maxima said. She looked towards her. "You should do better though in keeping your potential concubines in check."

"Seems to me like I need to keep you in check better," Clark said. He grabbed Maxima firmly and blocked her attempts to kiss him.

Diana looked towards Kara, with confusion and Kara sighed. "Don't mind Maxima. She has a occasional case of raging bitch. It appears that Clark is going to have to sort it out later, but we have bigger problems now."

"Yes," Diana agreed. She would have to agree that they had bigger problems then some spoiled warrior queen.

* * *

Kara, Diana, Clark, and Maxima returned to the recently built Fortress. It was a splendor, a wonder, if a bit dull and dry, and lifeless in some ways. It was practical, useful in many ways. Diana looked it over with a smile and she could only say one thing.

"Not too bad," Diana said.

"That's one way to put it," Clark informed her. The Fortress was not too bad. He could hear Kara snickered.

"Well, I guess Jor-El was in charge of the interior designing," Kara said. "That was never his strong suit….oh yes this is much better."

Kara, Clark, Diana, and Maxima entered a large spacious chamber. It was obviously done up to look much better than ever before. The crystals glowed against the wall and it resembled a nice sitting room. There was a bookshelf off to the side, but instead of books there were stacks of crystals.

"It's amazing how the encoding on a pair of crystals can bring a Fortress this large," Clark said.

"We have outdone ourselves, haven't we?" Lara asked. "What is it you require, my son?"

"It's not what I require, but rather what Diana requires," Clark said. Diana stepped forward and looked towards the mother of this remarkable young man.

Diana was caught off guard by her beauty for a minute. "Lara, I wish to locate an energy signature of an artifact that I have found."

"Just punch in the specifications in the computer, and there is no place on Earth that it would be able to be found," Lara said. A chair manifested itself for Diana. Diana sat herself down and started to type in. "If you need any assistance in navigating the technology, do not be afraid to ask."

"I think that I've got it," Diana said. She recognized this technology as a slightly more advanced model of something she encountered on Themscrycira.

Clark, Maxima, and Kara stood back. Maxima's eyes looked at Diana. "She's moderately skilled, I'll give you that. There's always room for improvement, but we'll find a way to make her improve."

"You know, I believe that she took out more statues than you did," Kara told Maxima. She couldn't help herself from riling up the Warrior Queen. Clark placed his hand on her shoulder in a warning manner. "I'm just saying ,I'm sure that you tried your best, but you've met your match."

"We'll see," Maxima said. She looked towards Clark and she wasn't going to say anything more. "I was going to depart, but I decided that there were things to be done here still. My planet will still hold itself together in my absence."

"And how do you know that they won't stage a coup?" Kara asked.

"Most people tend to fear death as a consequence from rebellion," Maxima said in her calm voice. "And they expect me to return with a mate. And they must realize that given how particular my standards are, they would know it would be difficult for me to find the mate that I want."

Maxima thought that she had found a mate. The fact she had to share him with numerous other women proved that he was strong enough. After all, most men in the universe fumbled with one woman, whilst this one excelled with three women. She allowed herself a smile. Things were getting very interesting and they were getting very interesting in an extremely good way. She could not wait to go further.

"We will depart when this entire mess is solved," Maxima said.

"You know, I'll consider it," Clark said.

Kara nearly broke after that one. Maxima was not used to getting her way. She looked at Maxima with a grin. "You better be careful, your majesty. Or you're going to be having a very dry spell if you push Clark around too much. "

Maxima realized what Kara meant and she scowled even deeper if that was possible. She couldn't go without him. She wouldn't go without him, she needed him and she needed him in all of the worst ways and some of the best ways as well. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath at this.

Clark moved over and placed his hands on the back of Diana's chair. She flinched a little bit in the chair. "Sorry, Chloe hates when I do that."

"It's fine, I'm finished, but we got trouble," Diana said. She got up to her feet and nearly spun around. She was close to Clark. Diana didn't make any effort to step back. "The Hellfire Key is able to breach the gates between life and death and unleash a demonic army."

"And this Faust guy lives up to his name," Clark said.

"Faust is Faust," Diana informed him. "The legend is a bit changed, some of the details are wrong, but some of the general ideas are the same. And he made a deal with Hades and not the Christian devil."

Clark nodded, that made a lot of sense. He suspected that every religion had their own legends about the dangerous of making deals with shady devil like individuals.

"And he is going to unleash this demonic army," Clark said. He could feel a shiver go down his spine.

"Well, it's just more enemies to take out," Maxima said.

Diana turned towards Maxima. She could not tell whether or not this woman was exceedingly brave or just entirely reckless. She thought about it over and over again and she just stared her straight in the eye. "You better not take this enemy lightly, because he'll crush you if you do."

Maxima didn't respond, she decided to ask the follow up. "Where is this army being brought down, Princess?"

* * *

Felix Faust thought that of all of the places he could bring down an unholy army, Smallville might be one of the oddest. Then again, who was he to question the will of a far more superior individual than him?

The three artifacts Cheetah gave him was in his hands. The woman waited in the next room for her reward. Faust recalled a lesson that he learned a long time ago, rewards always came with a bit of a price. Cheetah was going to learn that one the hard way.

Faust tapped his fingers against the stone tablet. The three artifacts were laid out. All he needed to do was snap them together. For now, he made his way over to a mirror that he used to communicate with his master.

"My lord, I have them all," Faust said.

"Yes, the gates will be breeched and I will take my revenge on them all," Hades said.

"You remember the terms of our agreement," Faust said. He looked into the eyes of Hades. They were cold, lifeless, extremely intense. Those were the type of eyes which made hardened men step forward in terror.

Hades laughed darkly. That laugh caused the hairs on the back of Faust's neck. "Yes, I'm certain that you want to be let free from your agreement. You have only been plotting for a way to get around it since we made it."

Faust hated when his master had some words that proved him absolutely right. Hades really had everything.

"I just need to make sure….."

"A snake is worried about someone being a snake, its irony at its finest, isn't it?" Hades asked in bemusement. His laughter rose and Faust was pretty sure that he was being mocked in some way. "Rest assured, Faust, you will get everything that you deserve, and you will get everything that is coming to you."

Faust found himself worried about those words. Hades laughed at him and Faust wondered if he had been getting himself a deal.

"The excellent thing is that the key can be assembled so easily that even a child could figure it out," Hades informed him. "Once you have it assembled, the demonic armies will arrive, and there's not a single person that can stop me."

Faust made a mental note that Hades said that no one could stop him. It was almost like Faust was an absolute afterthought to Hades and in some ways, he was. That angered Faust beyond all belief and he frowned even more deeply.

"And rest assured, you're going to get every single thing that's coming to you."

Faust knew that making a deal with Hades might end up with him on the short end of the stick. He had to assemble the key and let the man's demonic armies out into the world. He did as he was directed.

Cheetah was in the next room, waiting for her reward as well.

No one could stop them, not even the Amazon Princess.

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: The Hunt Part Three.**

* * *

Clark turned up at the front of the line. There was something that was happening in the air that put him at ease. Diana stood up beside him and Maxima took her place on his other side. Kara moved on in on the other side of Diana, with her arms folded. There was a sense of terror that was going to happen.

Then it became oddly calm, it was almost calm before the storm. Diana craned her neck instantly and she looked around. She could sense something and that was that they're getting close.

"Do you feel a chill in the air?" Kara asked. The rest of the group nodded in response. Kara folded her arms underneath her chest and sighed. She thought that she felt that chill in the air with all of them. She hated when she was right in situations like this.

"Yes, as you should feel the chill."

"It's Faust, he's taunting us," Diana said.

Maxima gave the Amazon Princess a side along look and raised her eyebrow in response. "Then we're going to have to be the ones that are going to be on our guard. He seems like a fairly pathetic man, it shouldn't be any trouble crushing him under foot where he belongs."

Diana sighed and inclined her head down. If only it were that simple. The problem was that Faust was a Sorcerer of amazing abilities, so he could utterly wreck pretty much anyone who was in his way and not even blink about it.

"I can smell your fear, and it's delicious," Faust said.

Chloe could barely hear this because of the excessive amount of magic roaming in the air, but she was in the ear piece not the same. "And here we are, breaking out pretty much all of the old clichés. I hate to admit this, but I was really hoping for something knew and original. I guess that I wouldn't get it from someone like Faust."

"At least he didn't tell us that none of us will be leaving here alive," Clark commented in an off handed tone.

"And none of you will be leaving here alive tonight," Faust said. That caused Kara to give Clark a disgusted look.

"Must you tempt fate?" Kara asked him. Clark looked on with a shrug and he was about ready to mouth the word "sorry" to Kara, but she shook her head.

Diana raised her hand up in the air and she craned her neck forward. There was something happening and it wasn't a good thing to was happening either.

"Just how did you do it, Faust?" Diana asked.

"You would like to know that, wouldn't you, Princess?" Faust asked. "You would like to know how I escaped from my prison that your bitch of a mother put me in."

Diana raised her eyebrow in response. "Yes, I would like to know that."

"Well, that's for me to know, and you to never really find out," Faust commented. He was practically taunting her now. One could almost hear the taunting in his voice when he rattled the cage of the Beautiful Amazon Princess. "But I can tell you this one thing."

Faust dropped his voice to a cryptic whisper, and looked on with a smile. "I have help!"

"Enough, you cowardly toad, show yourself!" Maxima yelled. The Warrior Queen's many virtues did not include patience. This Faust would be someone that she would execute on her planet.

There was a rumbling through the air. Clark closed his eyes and could see someone rushing at them. The Cheetah charged them.

One look in her eyes told the story and that story was that whatever gift she got from Faust, it warped her and turned her completely and utterly feral. Her claws practically glowed.

"Stand back!" Diana ordered. Maxima was about ready to say that Diana didn't have any call to order her around, but The Princess of the Amazon's was not about to hear this from some uptight Alien Queen.

Diana raised her hand and a shield appeared around them. Cheetah hit the side of the barrier.

"Faust has turned whatever gift he had around on you, you'll end up ripping yourself apart before you rip us apart," Diana said. Cheetah bared her teeth, practically snarling. She backed up and ran against the shield Diana created with her bracelets. That caused the magic to break. "Deep inside, you're still human, and we can bring that part out."

"Something tells me she's not buying what you're selling," Kara said regretfully towards Diana.

The Princess of the Amazons had to concede the point that Kara was correct and she decided to switch tactics. She pulled out her lasso from her belt and she swung it, in an attempt to latch around the Cheetah.

The Cheetah caught the Lasso in her hands and pulled Diana forward. Clark could see this happening, and he rushed forward, pulling her out of the way.

Both Diana and Clark flew and landed onto the ground with a pair of sickening thuds. Diana laid on top of Clark. She raised her eyebrow at him when she tried to get up off of him.

Kara used her super breath to take the Cheetah off guard. She caught her adversary off guard with an intense burst of super speed and she rocked her.

Cheetah was that much faster than Kara when she recovered. Maxima just barely was able to pull her out of the way. She nearly took the hit.

Clark was in and he grabbed Cheetah, wrestling her down to the ground.

Cheetah paused and her animal instincts recognized him as an Alpha male. The rage she felt towards the Amazon Princess for trying to get on her territory was almost cancelled out. She struggled underneath this powerful young man's grip when he held her down onto the ground.

She tried to allow friction between the two of them.

"What's going on?" Kara asked.

Maxima looked slightly amused, which might have been a first for the Warrior Queen in circumstances like this. "That bitch is in heat."

Diana secured Cheetah after Clark distracted her. This time, she made sure that there was no way that Cheetah was going to go out.

She looked at Clark, her dark hair hanging over her face and she gave him a deep smile. "I don't know what possessed you to think about a distraction like that, but it seems to have worked well, so I'm not going to complain about it too much."

Clark shrugged in response to what she said. "I'm just happy that I can help in any way that I can to take him down."

"Well, you've done good, really good," Diana said. She leaned closer towards him and their lips almost met in a passionate kiss.

This was stalled by someone clearing their throat. Both Diana and Clark remembered themselves and turned around.

"Look, I'm glad that you're happy, but we do have a problem," Kara said. She pointed skyward and the red sky effect got even more prominent.

There was laughter in the air and there was one statement that was obvious, where Clark had to say it. He let out a deep breath and shook his head. "This isn't good."

"You understate much, Kal-El," Maxima said. She looked up into the sky and there was a crack of light that emitted from where they were standing.

The unholy demon army descended down upon them and they were going to play for keeps. The four of them were ready to fight, but they realized that if they shut this off, they had a better chance of winning.

* * *

Felix Faust raised his hands. He thought that he was on top of the world and there was nothing that could stop him now. His mouth curled into a malicious smile when he tapped his fingers on the edge of a pedestal. He could feel his moment and it would be a glorious moment when it occurred.

"Do not become too arrogant too soon."

Faust could not believe that his master dared to flick his wicked tongue at him now. "I'm on the verge of ultimate power and pushing pretty much everyone underneath my thumb. And this is now the time that you choose to rear your ugly head."

"Your arrogance displeases me greatly, Faust," the man in question replied. His gaze flickered towards him.

Faust allowed a sour expression to fill his face. He wished to wrap his fingers around a man's throat.

"The portal is almost fully charging, soon you will be out, and you will give me your payment," Faust said.

There was a blaring sound that echoed in his ears. It grew more intense and more obnoxious every single moment that it bombarded his ears. Faust rubbed the side of his ear and gave a frown, shaking his head.

"If you are hoping for a payment, you better intend to deliver the goods," Hades commented. "And so far, I see that your merchandise is rather faulty."

One of the unholy demon army members landed on the ground. Faust looked at the person involved, raising his hands. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the Amazon Princess standing before him.

"You!" Faust yelled.

"Yes, it's me, Faust, I'm here to shut your little game down," Diana said. She stood up proudly and boldly when she stared him down.

Faust laughed in her face, shaking his head in amusement. "Oh, this is quaint, pretty quaint. You think that you're going to shut my game down, but of course, I'll stand down and just let you do it."

Diana could sense Faust had something up his sleeve. Her three companions were on the outside fighting the other members of the demon army.

"You will be on your knees before me, worshipping me, just like your mother did before you," a rumbling voice said.

The sky in Smallville looked like it was going to split in half. The energy around them was intense and Diana looked up, her mouth hanging up. There were no words, especially when she knew who Faust's master was.

"Then again, it should have been obvious," Diana muttered underneath her breath, and sure enough, it was obvious. Hades returned with a vengeance.

"Yes, it should have been obvious," Hades commented. "The Amazons thought they could block my way out."

"That was on the orders of Hera, after the carnage you caused," Diana said.

"Yes, well, you didn't have to listen to her, like her puppet on a string," Hades said. The unholy demon army went around them. "With each second, I grow stronger and soon I will be able to walk on the mortal world. People forgot how much they should fear Gods, but perhaps a reminder should be at hand.

"You're cracked in the head," Diana informed him.

"Yes," Hades said. He waved his hands and the bone guardians rose to their feet. "Destroy her!"

The unholy army walked towards her. Diana clenched her fists and was ready for a fight to end all fights. Her heart started racing quicker when the demonic creatures stepped towards her. They rose their hands into the air and tried to smash down onto the top of her head.

Diana dodged their attacks. One of the bone spears struck onto the ground.

A superfast blast shot out of nowhere and struck the bone demon in the face. The bone demon fell to the ground, landing hard.

"Take him out, Faust!" Hades yelled.

"Maxima and Kara have things wrapped up over there, I figured that you need some help," Clark said.

Normally she would have not been happy with someone assuming she needed help. This time, Diana was going to make an exception to that rule. She did need help and lots of help. Her heart beat faster.

"We've got a big problem," Diana said. She looked up. "That's Hades, God of the Underworld, and….he's gone a bit twisted over the years."

Clark whistled. He didn't say anything, but that insidious round of laughter clued him in that Hades went around the bent.

"So, what happens if we bust the key?" Clark asked. He thought that it might be an ideal thing to try and destroy the key in some way.

That caused Diana to consider something. She could barely capture her breath when a group of the living dead charged her like there was no tomorrow. Diana lifted up her shield and smashed it into one of the bone warriors. That caused flying bone fragments to spray in pretty much every single direction.

"Well, if we bust the key, I think that we might be able to stop Hades from coming here," Diana said. She closed her eyes. "But it's a one in a million shot that we do so."

"Better than any other shot that we have, "Clark said.

He rushed on in. He took out the glowing demon army members and tried to break their thrall on the world.

There was a loud clang and Clark was pushed back. He fell down onto the ground and his hand burned when he touched the side of the demon on the ground.

Clark shook his head and got up to his feet. It was a noble effort, but he felt like he was going around in circles.

"Free, almost free!" Hades yelled.

Clark looked around. He was going to do something that was going to be considered to be entirely brave, or brazenly stupid. He focused his X-Ray vision on the key. Magic could be unpredictable, but sometimes you needed to take a calculated risk.

Heat vision shot from his eyes. It struck the key.

The pedestal heated up and for a brief second, Clark thought that it didn't work. That second was only brief.

The key on the pedestal kept burning extremely intensely and Clark grabbed her by the arm.

Diana and Clark flew to the ground and the key busted apart at the impact. There was a swirling vortex when the demonic army was sucked into the ground.

"I think we better go," Diana said. She gripped Clark by the arm and rushed out.

The two of them grabbed Kara and Maxima when the demons that they were fighting vanished into a burst of light. The intensity continued to radiate when the demonic army vanished into the ether.

Clark, Kara, Maxima, and Diana watched with wide eyes. What they saw was equal parts extremely beautiful and also extremely unsettling.

Faust gave a loud growl and he could feel Hades grip him around the ankle. The sorcerer's screams echoed. "What are you doing, let me go?"

"If I'm going back, then I'm taking you with me!" Hades bellowed. The ground rocked when the barrier sealed itself because of the destruction of the key.

Faust scratched at the ground like a deranged animal. He was yanked further and further through the edge of the portal. He shook madly.

There was a loud crack that resounded. The magical energy left a large crater in the side of the ground. Said ground shook in pretty much every single direction imaginable.

When the dust cleared, Maxima craned her neck. Diana made sure a secured Cheetah was held in the bindings that she had. Her feral nature left with the departure of Faust, but the hate radiating in her eyes remained strong as ever before.

"We did it, I think that we did it at least," Kara said.

"Yes, you would think that you would have more confidence in your own words," Maxima said. She turned towards Diana and frowned. "Please tell me that part of the key still exists down there. "

Diana allowed herself a momentary sigh. She'll know in a minute. Diana made her way to the crater beneath her.

She dug it out of the ashes. The key looked a bit charred, but the magic going through it was still functional. Diana barely even noticed the injuries she suffered in the battle. Clark noticed them with a critical eye.

"You better go to the Fortress to get checked out," Clark warned her. Diana was about to protest, but Clark looked at him firmly. "It's the least that I can do, after you helped me out the last time."

Diana wasn't going to lie, this concern Clark gave her kind of made her smile.

* * *

Diana sat calmly in the Fortress. She was being scanned from head to toe. Her own natural healing factor kicked in and allowed her to grow in strength.

She thought about everything that occurred today. Today was most certainly an intense battle. The Amazon Princess could not wait until she got up to her feet and stretched herself.

"I apologize for this, but a detailed scan takes time," Lara said. This was a lot easier to do that she was an AI, because her own ingrained medical knowledge would tell her what to do.

"We just want to find out whether or not there were any lasting injuries," Clark said. He stood supportively next to Diana. Maxima and Kara were off babysitting Cheetah. She was angrier than ever before that she had been duped, by Faust and by Clark.

Diana was growing impatient. Her body was buzzing from the battle.

"Is there anything wrong?" Clark asked.

"Just tense," Diana said.

Clark wondered if a tense Amazon was a good thing or not. He tapped his foot and waited.

"Yes, Kal, I'm ninety five percent done, and we'll see how well Diana is," Lara interjected. She could almost sense their frustration and she would have to sympathsize with it. "So, far there are no injuries that are an immediate concern. Or no injuries at all. And the bruising and swelling of her arm is going down."

"That's better off than the situation that I found myself in," Clark told her. Diana nodded in affirmation.

"You were poisoned, I was just merely bruised, that's a different," Diana said.

"Well I'm happy to report that you are one hundred percent clear," Lara said. She went off back into the depths of the Fortress.

"The key will be returned to a safer location," Diana said. "It seems like I'm not the only one that can repair damage quickly."

"But the key is not a problem unless it's intact," Clark said. Diana shook her head.

"And the barriers are the things that are intact and Hades has to stew in his own juices," Diana said. "I'm certain he might not be the only god that will want revenge on you before it's all said and done."

Clark frowned, wondering what she meant about that. "What about Cheetah?"

"She will serve her sentence, I'm sure that when her mind clears, she'll want to thank you for saving her from a more awful fate," Diana said. She placed her hands on his face. "Just like I want to thank you for all of the help that you've given me."

Clark was about ready to tell her it was no problem. He was stopped by how beautiful that she was.

Diana smiled when she saw his gaze travel over her body. She jumped in quickly and wrapped her arms around him. She pulled him in towards her and smashed her lips against his.

Clark could feel her tongue probe deep into her mouth. The two of them exchanged an extremely intense kiss with each other. Clark's tongue brushed against the opening of her mouth when pushed it down her throat.

"I told you I was tense," Diana said. She undid his belt instinctively, almost like something nudged her.

Granted, it was nothing that caused her to do anything she didn't want to do. It was just some force that removed her inhibitions.

"And sex is one of the biggest ways to release tension," she said, pulling his shirt off. Diana ran her hands over his muscular chest and abs. "And you seem so tense, Kal-El, don't you? Especially down here."

She squeezed him. Clark could feel her strength and he groaned. She undid his pants with a smile on her face.

Diana slid down his pants and then his boxer shorts. The Amazon Princess smiled when she saw the prize that waited for her.

"Great Hera!" she breathed heavily.

* * *

Diana wrapped her arms around Clark and pressed herself against his back. Her ample breasts rested against him, as she spooned him. One of her hands wrapped around his crotch and her other her other hand threaded to her hair.

She slowly ran her fingers down his chest, and she allowed herself a grin, when she ran her fingers down his chest.

"So, how are you feeling?" Clark asked.

"Wonderful, that was amazing," Diana said. "Sex is the greatest way to relieve stress and tension, and that proves it."

"Yes, it does," Clark said.

"And you're lucky to find women who are enlightened and aren't subjected to some of the more frustrating quirks of the western world," Diana said. She leaned in and nibbled gently on his ear. That caused Clark to groan when Diana threaded her fingers gently through his hair and she felt herself press up against him.

"Yes, lucky," Clark agreed. He could feel Diana lightly nibble down on the back of his neck as well.

"Granted, that's just something that cultural boundaries…just differences we have," Diana said. She traced patterns on Clark's chest with her fingers and absent mindedly ran between her legs. "I found you, and I think that I'd like to share you with some of my sisters, if that's okay."

"Are you sure you can do that?" Clark asked.

"Well, I have to get some permission from the goddesses," Diana admitted. "But, then there's my mother….she's had some really bad experiences with men. It's enough to make anyone jaded, although some Amazons take it too extreme."

"How so?" Clark asked.

"Some split off from us, when Hippolyta disapproved of their plans to wage war on man for their crimes," Diana said. "The Amazons teach tolerance and understanding and trying to commit genocide against an entire race is not tolerance and understanding."

She closed her eyes.

"But, maybe you can help me convince my mother to let you visit….well I'm going to have to go for her myself," Diana said. "But, I'm sure that you've got the interest of some higher beings."

Clark wondered if that was a good thing or not. Diana straddled him one more time and it was obvious that she was not quite done for him tonight.

**To Be Continued. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Expanding the Circle. **

* * *

Maxima thought that this trip to Earth, while not her favorite place in the world to be, did give her an interesting amount of perspective for how she needed to grow and expand to be the ruler that she needed to be. The Warrior Queen needed to be the ruler that was best for her people. There were times where she lost sight of that. The woman frowned extremely deeply when she was in thought of that. There was a part of her who knew that, a large part of her that always knew that.

She lost sight of the little people and now Maxima had a good idea where they stood. She needed that idea if she wanted to thrive as the ruler that her people needed. She was glad that her mate and his collective showed her the way.

These were thoughts that went into her mind when she leaned back against one of the ice pillars of the Fortress. It would no doubt be a shock to her people that she found someone that actually fit her standards. Standards fit for royalty. He might not be perfect, but he tamed her.

Not that Maxima would admit that out loud, per say. She did have some standards that she needed to keep holding onto after all. She tapped her foot anxiously on the ground and waited for this young man to arrive.

Patience was not something that was taught fairly well amongst the royals of Almerac. She would be among the first people to tell you that simple fact.

There was a rush and Maxima looked up. She saw Kal-El standing there and there was a smile on her face.

"Sorry it took me so long," Clark said. Maxima looked him in the eye. "I said goodbye to Diana, she'll be back though."

"I'm certain she would be a fool not to return to you," Maxima said. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward. Her eyes locked onto those of her mate's. "She does have a fair amount of potential. She's a bit impulsive, a bit arrogant though."

"So, is it like looking into a mirror?" Clark asked her.

Maxima gave him a shadow of a smile. Such a statement would have had someone normally get slapped for such disrespect. However, the intercourse was worth it, so she was going to allow such remarks to slide.

"Well, I suspect that we might have similarities," Maxima admitted grudgingly. "Royalty does have its own challenges, to go along with the power. There is an ancient universal proverb that with great power there must also come great responsibility."

"Yes, I've heard about that one," Clark answered.

"Although she does not have the power and the responsibility as a Queen being a mere princess, she does have her own unique share of power and responsibility, so we must respect that from her," Maxima stated. She looked towards Clark. "And you did not take her enemy as the spoils of war."

"Not yet," Clark said.

"Well, I suppose that you have your reasons," Maxima said. "I have taken many females as spoils of war. They are currently being treated on my home planet. As for the men, since they are too pathetic to defeat me, I have no use for them. Had any of them defeated me….well it's not like we would be having this conversation."

Clark thought that the Warrior Queen had an interesting perspective on how to pursue relationships. He didn't know if he would necessarily agree with what she said, it was just that he found it interesting.

"There was a concern that there were some magical enchantments on her that could cause her to be a puppet to certain forces," Clark said.

"Ah yes, that does constitute as a problem," Maxima agreed. "I do admit that magic is not something of my expertise. It can be a bit of a taboo on certain planets, yours included in fact."

"Yes," Clark agreed, with a smile on his face. "Kara did mention that to me one time, that magic was a taboo on Krypton, and well….."

"But being a taboo does not stop people from doing it," Maxima said. She shook her head. "Your Council made some questionable decisions, that lead to the demise of an extremely powerful race. A lot of technology was lost, although thankfully, a lot of it has been preserved in this very Fortress for all time."

"Yes, I'm sure we can all appreciate that fact," Clark agreed. "So are you….."

"Since your business has wrapped up, I think that the two of us should depart for Almerac," Maxima informed him. "I believe that you will be pleased with some of the treasures that you can find on my planet."

Perhaps it was just Clark's imagination, but he mentally thought that treasures was just a code word for the women Maxima won in the spoils of war.

"And you may have prevented a civil war, with your presence," Maxima said. "I do have a question of how we're going to get back and forth from this Fortress to my throne room if the portal is located here."

"Take the crystal and you can install it in your palace," Lara told Maxima. "It will be activated and allow a gateway. You and Kal-El are keyed in and you are the only ones that are keyed in to be able to use the portal."

"For security reasons, we should keep it that way," Maxima said. "Maybe in time, a couple more trustworthy parties can be added, but….."

"I agree," Clark said. He was thinking that Kara should at least be included, for starters, but he wasn't going to push the issue.

"Yes, I'm glad that it's settled," Maxima said. She looked pleased and the smile rose on her face. "So, shall we?"

"Yes, I'm with you," Clark admitted. The two of them locked hands and the portal was opened.

Maxima had the crystal in her hand and left through the portal, with Clark following her into parts unknown. It should be interesting to see one of his mate's homeworld.

* * *

Diana dropped off Cheetah with the Amazons so she could stand trial on the island. She decided to stick around for a few days long to tie up some loose ends for her mother. She knew that Kal went back up to his Fortress to meet with Maxima.

Diana knew that Fortress well and she was glad to be the first female to have relations with Clark inside his Fortress. That was most certainly worthy of some form of bragging rights.

She nearly ran into Kara. Kara looked at her with a bright smile. "Hi, Diana….are you going to be sticking around for a few days longer?"

"I am," Diana said. She frowned. "I missed Kal, apparently though."

"Yes, he left with Maxima, but he'll be back before you know it," Kara said. "And I'm sure that you'd want to stick around here….so how are you finding Smallville?"

"It's a change of pace," Diana admitted. "You're pretty new though, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am, and at first, it's a bit…off not to be around a lot of high end technology," Kara said. "Although it was a more scaled down version of my home, it was out in the country as well. My mother had a lab out there, because she wanted to do her experiments without the Council breathing down her neck every five minutes."

Diana nodded, she could see why that would be a problem. She leaned towards Kara and saw Lori, Lana, and Chloe sitting around outside. Lana waved them over with a bright smile.

"Are you finding everything okay in Smallville?" Lana asked her.

"I think that I'm getting the hang of everything and where I need to go," Diana said. "I'm glad that the three of you are going to show me around."

"Well, Lori moved in town over a year ago, and I did three years ago," Chloe said. "Lana is the one that knows the ins and outs of Smallville after living here for her entire life."

"Well, I'm sure that she'll be able to show me everything that I need to know and then some more," Diana said with a smile. "I was glad that my mother gave me this responsibility. It was more than worth it."

"And now all you're going to have to do is get permission to introduce her to Clark, right?" Kara asked.

Diana nodded. "Yes men aren't….well there have been no men who have been invited to the island in quite a long time."

"Yes, and you said the island had a population of all women?" Lana asked. There was a calculating look on her face, one that Chloe caught ahold of. She turned towards Lana. Lana's mouth snapped open. "What? I was just asking a question, there's no need to get alarmed."

"I'm not getting alarmed, I'm just giving you the look," Chloe said.

"The look?" Lana asked.

"Yes, the look," Chloe confirmed. "The look which could set fire to an entire village if done properly? You know, that look?"

"Yes, I know that look," Lana confirmed. She and Chloe were engaging in a staring contest. That caused Lori to get into fits of giggles.

"Okay, the two of you, I think that you've both proved your points," Kara said.

"Oh, this is more entertaining than anything on television," Lori added. She could see Kara give her one of those looks. It was a look that told her that she better knock it off while she was ahead. Lori bit down on her lip in response and shook her head. "Okay, come on, that's not…."

"And I'm not really sure that saying something that is better than anything on television is a compliment given that some of the things that pass for television," Chloe said.

Diana gave her one of those curious looks and frowned. "Television is….."

"Well, it's not completely bad, there are some gems," Lana admitted with a shrug. "But you've got to really work for those gems and search for them, through all of the mounds of reality shows that only have celebrities that are famous for being famous."

"Trust me, that's a nightmare," Chloe said.

"I'll take your word for it," Diana said. "But to answer your question, yes we're an island of extremely strong warrior women."

"And if they're anything as beautiful as you, even half as beautiful as you, they will certainly be something worth looking closer at," Lana said. Chloe looked at Lana and sighed.

"Diana….I have to apologize for Lana," Chloe said.

"And don't try and tell me that you haven't considered the same thing," Lana piped in. Chloe frowned.

"You know that I've considered pretty much the same exact thing, but that's not the point," Chloe said. "The point is…OW!"

Both Chloe and Lana got slapped on the ass by a super powerful and superfast force. That caused Lori to hide her head and start laughing. Diana's lips curled in amusement and she turned to Kara, who acted innocent. Granted, she wasn't doing a good job at doing it.

"Hey, Kal wasn't here to do it, so someone had to," Kara said. "And I think that we're thinking the same thing, including Diana, but not all of us, have to make a big enough show out of what we think, you know."

Diana was about to protest that she was thinking absolutely nothing of the sort. Kara responded by giving her the shifty look to end all shifty looks and she paused and nodded in response.

"Well, I guess that's something that I can't deny," Diana admitted. "But, Clark is amazing and I'm glad that Lana is willing to share him."

"It's kind of hot to watch him fuck other women, it gives you an interesting perspective on things," Lana offered. Chloe raised her eyebrow. "But, I didn't get to see this one, and I'm a bit upset."

"Well, I'm sure that Clark and I might give you a repeat performance," Diana said. Lana smiled. "Maybe get you into the performance."

"If I didn't want to make a scene, I would kiss you right now," Lana said.

"What would be stopping you?" Diana asked. She sounded confused. It was almost like it was some kind of wrong on the mainland for women to show love and affection next one.

"Well, two women kissing either equals to a bunch of horny males hooting and hollering, or a bunch of uptight biddies screaming about how we should please think of the children," Chloe said. She sounded overtly dramatic at that last part and she feigned fainting.

Kara shook her head. "Humans and their weird hang ups. I'll never get it."

"I've been a human my entire life, and I'll never get it," Chloe said. Kara smiled. "And that sounded a bit less awkward in my head, I swear to God."

"Well, I'll take your word for it, Chloe," Kara said. She tapped her chin in a mock insightful manner. "I wonder who could be next?"

"I don't know, my cousin maybe," Chloe piped in. She laughed and she shook her head. "Oh, that will be the day, someone taming Lois."

Lana piped in with a look of interest in her face. "Hmm."

"What was that hmm for?" Chloe piped in. She was frowning deeply when she looked over towards Chloe.

"I just said, hmm, that's all," Lana said.

* * *

The planet of Almerac was a buzz. There were some people who grew restless and waited not so patiently for the return of their Queen. They wondered what kind of surprise that she would bring with her.

One of the last things many of them would expect was a man that she brought with here. There were very few men left on the planet, given that many of them had to try and win favor to the Queen. They tried to win favor with the Queen and failed extremely dismally. Now they were left here looking at him.

"My subjects, I have returned on a journey to find my mate," Maxima said. She placed her arm around him and brought him into focus. "Ladies and gentlemen of Almerac, may I present to you, Kal-El, the sole surviving son of the planet Krypton."

Seeing was in fact believing and they saw the young man walking towards them. Kal was told to smile and wave towards them. Maxima presented a large rock before him.

"Show them your strength," Maxima said calmly.

Clark crushed the rock and he did it with style. There was a gasp as the few men that were left backed off in terror. They could see his power and it was obvious that he was Kryptonian with the amount of power that he showed them all.

"Do you see it, do you see what he could do to you?" Maxima asked.

"Only if you give me a reason to," Clark said. He didn't know if he liked the fact that Maxima were using his powers as a means to the end. The Warrior Queen grasped his hand firmly and held him in.

"Yes, but I know that none of you will give him a reason to do such a thing," Maxima said. "All of you better pay respects for your new king!"

There was a loud round of cheers. Maxima had an extremely commanding presence over them that they couldn't respect that.

"Yes, respect," one of them said from below. A sweeping look from their queen caused all of them to clap loudly.

Two of Maxima's aides walked towards over towards him. There was a smile on her face when they approached them.

"I did tell you that I was going to return with a king that would be worthy of someone who would sit atop the throne of Almerac," the Queen commented, her gaze sweeping over them. Her grin grew slightly wicked with each pressing second.

"Seeing is in fact believing, my Queen," one of the aides said.

"Shall we show Kal-El to his quarters?" one of the aides asked. It was obvious that she was sizing up Kal as much as she would have been permitted.

"Yes," Maxima answered. She raised her hand for a moment. "But, first I need you to leave me, for we need to cement out relationship upon the throne."

The aides nodded in response. Clark could see that they were all beautiful in their own ways.

"Yes, Kal-El, they are yours as much as they are mine," Maxima said. She gave a sweeping look over her ladies. "And I trust that you will serve them as much as you would serve me."

"Of course," one of the aides commented. She traced her eyes over Kal-El's body. "If you want anything, our king, then don't hesitate to ask."

"Don't hesitate to ask at all," the aide said. She licked her lips.

"Return in about an hour's time," Maxima informed them. "And make sure to lock the doors behind you. I don't wish to be disturbed."

The aides didn't find this statement to be out of it at all. They found this particular statement to be perfectly normal.

The time the aides took seemed like a long time for Maxima. She threw her arms around Clark and gave him an extremely passionate kiss.

The powerful young man returned the kiss with equal amount of fury. He slowly backed Maxima up and pressed her against the chair.

Maxima could feel his able hands rip off her clothes. Her skin was slowly being bared before him. She could feel her pleasure heat up and Clark pressed his finger against her edge. The core pumped energy from her.

"Looks like you want this," Clark told her. He smiled when he looked at her. "The question is how much do you want this?"

Maxima spread her legs before him. She was sprawled out on the chair and she placed her hands on the chair.

"Does this answer your question?" Maxima asked. She slowly pushed her finger between her dripping thighs and looked at him with burning desire in her eyes. "Take me, in your strong and powerful way."

Clark didn't even need to be asked twice.

* * *

Chloe, Kara, and Lana were busy doing homework with each other.

"For a super advanced being, you can't get simple advanced Algebra?" Lana asked in amusement. Kara looked at her with a frown on her face and decided to be completely and entirely honest about it.

"Well, I don't know…it's just the way that you're taught it, it's not a convenient way to do it," Kara said. "There is a much simpler way to do it, and it's just throwing me off."

Kara showed her work, which was not the way that they teachers wanted her to do it. She wrote at super speed, at a blinding force when she covered the paper with her rapid fire hand motions.

"Yes, simple, like that," Chloe said dryly. She looked over what she was reaching. "You know, you'd have better luck if you pulled what that one guy in our class last year did."

"What did he do?" Kara asked curiously.

"The teacher asked him to show his work, he drew her a picture of a calculator," Lana said. "You have to admit that he did show his work."

"The Saturday Detention might have been worth it," Chloe said. "We thought it was funny, but some people have their senses of humor surgically removed from birth."

"Yeah, that does seem to be a problem, unfortunately," Kara answered. She was looking through the paper that she had in front of her and frowning when she read it. "I think that understand it, even though they're having us do things in a counterproductive way."

"That's the American Education system for you," Chloe offered. She finished her homework. "About ninety percent of what you learn anyway, you're never going to use in the real world. So there you go."

"I'm sure some people would disagree with that," Lana said.

"Why would you teach things that you wouldn't be able to use?" Kara asked.

"I don't know, really depends on what kind of career you have," Chloe added. "How did you learn things on Krypton anyway?"

"We just had specialized apprenticeships after we learned the basics of science, from about the age of eight and beyond," Kara said.

"And that seems more practical," Lana offered both of them. "But you wanted to experience the joys of going to school on Earth. So you really got to take the bad with the good and really all of the drama in between that."

"Oh, I don't honestly mind the drama," Kara said. "That's something that you would be used to."

"You are alien, if you don't mind the drama," Chloe answered. She frowned when she went back to her work. She just needed to finish a few more lines on this essay and she was done. She double checked to make sure all of her references were properly cited.

There was a knock on the door that caused Chloe's eyes to jerk up. She wondered who could be calling at this time in the afternoon.

"I'll get that, the two of you hang out or something," Chloe said. She stopped. "Don't do anything that will get you into trouble."

Lana turned to Kara. "It's almost like she doesn't trust us, or something?"

"You get that vibe too?" Kara asked, shaking her head in response.

Chloe made her way down the stairs. There was another loud knock. "Okay, okay, I'm coming, keep your knickers on, I can only go so fast."

Chloe worked over the lock and she opened it up. She saw a brown haired girl with exotic violet eyes looking at her. She wore a nice black tank top that fit over her ample breasts, along with a pair of jeans that tightly fit around her body.

The young blonde was caught off guard by her guest. Her mouth opened and her jaw appeared to not work after a second. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs after a second. "Lois, what are you doing here?"

"I figured that I'd turn up and see if I could stay with you for a few days," Lois said. "There's something going on in here of all places….Smallville, and the General is on the warpath."

Chloe whistled. General Sam Lane being on the warpath couldn't be good. She wondered if this had anything to do with what Diana and Clark had to deal with. Then again, a warrior queen making a very public display wasn't going to fly underneath the radar very long."

"Chloe, who is it?"

Lana was down at the foot of the steps and Kara followed her.

"Kara, Lana, this is my cousin Lois Lane," Chloe said. "Lois, this is Kara Kent and Lana Lang?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I'd trust anyone with an alliterative name," Lois said. Chloe looked at her cousin with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I know, that was supposed to be a joke that fell flat. It's a pleasure to meet you. So, do you still have a guest room for me here like you did in Metropolis?"

"I might be able to find room for you," Chloe answered. "Dad's working second shift, so he won't be around, but I'm sure that the General might have informed him."

"Um…it might have slipped the General's mind," Lois said. She looked sheepish.

Chloe smiled. This would be interesting.

"So, you're the infamous Lois that couldn't be tamed?" Lana asked. She looked at Lois with a grin.

Chloe could have face palmed. Kara barely kept a straight face struggling not to laugh.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Heat Turns Up.**

* * *

Those who lived in Smallville for the past fifteen years were used to the strange and the mysterious. The meteor mutants who turned up to cause trouble in a regular basis proved that fact time and time again. Their mysterious savior who stopped those meteor mutants was another big proof of that.

A rather sultry looking red haired vixen turned up. Her hair was tied back and framed her face in a delightful manner. She had a fiery personality. The tight black pants that fit around her, with the white top caused everyone to look at her with a brand new appreciative look.

"So, what can I do for you, my dear lady?" one of the men asked. He sounded like a real gentlemen, but he was not immune to her look.

"You know, I'm a bit lost," the female said. She whispered in a sultry tone of voice and ran her hand against the forearm of the man, running her fingers across it. "Perhaps you can help me, I'd be so grateful."

It was just like a man to fall for the demure and lost little girl act. She wasn't lost, she had a feeling that she was right where she needed to be.

"Of course, we always know how to treat a gal from out of town in the right way," the man said. He sounded like a real aw shucks type.

It was almost amusing and dare she say it, a bit cute. The redheaded vixen gave him a smile. He was going to be like putty in the palm of her hand if she manipulated him just right. She leaned towards him and whispered almost in his ear.

"I'm glad that you know how to treat a gal to something right," she said. Her tone sounded sincere, but for someone who was a bit more cynical, it was obvious that she was kind of making fun of their aw shucks, down to Earth type of attitude. "I was wondering if you could put me to the direction of the Dead Hook Road."

The man's amusement faltered and he looked a bit terrified at what she asked. "Well, you see that's the border on Smallville….a rougher crowd lives there."

"A cousin of mine, she got in a spot of trouble, and some really bad men, they wanted to make her pay," the woman commented. She placed her fingers down on the man's chest and slowly stroked her fingers down his chest. That caused him to shiver, irony of all ironies if she had to say so herself. "I would be ever so grateful if you were able to help me with her."

The woman leaned forward and she licked her lips.

"Grateful, you wouldn't want these bad men to hurt her, would you?" she asked. It was there that it was obvious that she had something in her hands. "You wouldn't leave a poor defenseless ladies, hanging."

"Well, we would like to help you Miss…."

"Selton, Claire Selton," she said. "Please, sir, I'd like you to….."

She looked over her shoulder and heard a van pull it.

'_Great, if it wasn't one thing, it's another,' _she thought. How they found her all the way in Smallville, she never had any idea.

For government agents that were supposed to be the conspicuous type, they looked anything but conspicuous. Claire folded her arms together and frowned deeply, rearing her head back. One could almost sense the frustration dancing through her eyes, that much was really obvious.

A couple of government agents stepped forward. Claire clutched her hand to the bag. She supposed that it really passed the point where she could and should act natural. Her fingers kept curling over the bag.

"Can I help you boys?" she asked in a sweet and demure voice.

"What's in the bag?" one of them asked.

Not willing to play the game, she saw. They had weapons on her.

"What is going on here?" one of the men asked.

"The bad men who are after me, they found me," the woman said. Her eyes glowed with fury and she clutched her hand over the bag.

This item was too important to let them get their hands on them. That was what those government types were like, they were too high and mighty with themselves.

"Don't be lead astray by her, she's a spy, and she's used to manipulating the emotions of men," one of the government agents said in a furious tone of voice. He crushed his hand over a weapon.

"Because that's just what you've made me," she said. Her tone grew extremely colder when she stared the government agents down. "I am what you made me, and nothing more. "

"Prepare to restrain her," the government goons commented. They stepped into place and were about to attack her. "No one needs to get hurt, Miss Selton."

"No, they don't, and they wouldn't if you just didn't leave me alone," Claire said. "Miss Thick as a Wall didn't tell you how dangerous I was. Why I earned the name Volcana?"

She closed her eyes and caused flickers of flames to appear. A fireball molded in the air, into a molten ball of white hot fury. Volcana impacted the nearest government agent in the chest with it.

"That won't burn him just yet, you have about three minutes to put him out though," Volcana said. "Unless he moves of course, then you have much less time."

Volcana stepped back, the bag in her hand. She closed her eyes and ignited the ground, causing the government jeep to blow up. She walked forward and prepared to hitch a ride. Waller wasn't going to bring her back in, alive at least.

She had to keep moving, because she was late for a very important date.

* * *

Chloe always kept her ear out for something odd or peculiar. That was just the budding reporter in her. She was always looking for some interesting things to take a closer look at and this bit of news was fairly interesting to say the least.

There was a mysterious woman who showed up out of town and a trio of government agents trailed her. Unfortunately, things got a little heated for one of the government agents. She was able to manipulate fire with the palm of her hand and she got away.

Where? The witnesses said that she was heading to the area of Dead Hook Road, but if Chloe had to think about it, it was obvious that she wasn't heading in that direction any time soon. Now that too many people found out where she was going.

"So, what did I miss?"

Chloe nearly jumped halfway up off of the ground and she just barely was able to catch most of her papers from flying off of her desk. She spun around and looked at Clark with a frown on her face.

"Oh, you think that's funny, don't you, Clark?" Chloe asked. She softened when he gave her a legit and fairly apologetic look. It was hard to stay too mad at him for too long with a look like that on her face.

"I didn't think that it was too funny, sorry about that," Clark said.

"That's fine," Chloe said. She placed her hand on Clark's chest and grinned. "All is forgiven, if you give me a kiss."

Clark decided that was the best thing to do. He wrapped his arm tightly around Chloe and pulled her in with a passionate kiss.

Chloe stepped back, feeling completely breathless. That was the type of kiss that knocked a person senseless and soaked their panties.

"So, do we have bad timing?"

Clark turned around and saw Kara and Lana standing in the doorway. Lana caught sight of the image on the screen. There was a slight look of calculating growing in her eyes.

"So, another fiery redhead?" Lana asked. "Why do I have a feeling that this one is going to be some trouble?"

"The fact that she nearly set some guy on fire might be a cause of it," Kara said. She spoke in an extremely calm voice. "I wonder what her story is."

"Sounds like the government officials were going to pursue her for some reason," Chloe said. She thought calmly about it. "And it likely could be because of the mysterious package that she wanted to unload right off of Dead Hook Road."

"You don't know any more than we do," Clark said.

"I know her name is Claire Selton and she seems like a real fireball," Chloe replied. Clark corked his eyebrow and Chloe added, smugness not even escaping her face. "Pun absolutely intended of course."

"Of course," Clark replied.

"She has to have some kind of story though, someone like that," Kara said.

"And the government goons might necessarily be completely wrong, but the way they are going on about it is wrong," Chloe answered. There were a lot of questions and not enough answers.

"Chloe, do you have a hair dryer that I can use!"

The door opened up and a rather attractive brunette wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her stepped into Chloe's room. Her hair was dripping and the brunette in question looked extremely alluring.

She stepped back and gave a surprised gasp. Thankfully for her and her modesty, the towel was able to be kept up.

"Chloe, you should have warned me that you had someone here," the brunette said.

Lana was barely able to keep a straight face and Kara was just barely able to keep from cracking out. Chloe shook her head and she got to her feet, looking Lois dead on in the eye.

"Well, if you would have knocked, then you wouldn't have gotten a surprise," Chloe said. "Lois, Clark, Clark, Lois."

"So you're Chloe's cousin?" Clark asked.

"So, you're that Clark that Chloe never shuts up about?" Lois asked. She was looking over him for a few seconds.

"Well, I guess that I am," Clark said and he looked over Chloe. She didn't duck her head, rather she was just grinning extremely hard in response. She was shaking her head in all kinds of great amusement. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, just wished that I would have a few more clothes on when we were meeting," Lois said. Not that she had a problem with being naked around an attractive male, but she thought that was jumping the gun on things too fast.

Clark was able to hold his tongue a little bit. Lois had left quite the impression on him.

"I'll be back in a few minutes….and do you have a hair dryer Chloe?" Lois asked.

"Did you check the cabinet under the sink?" Chloe asked her. She tried not to look smug.

Lois shook her head. Kara was really struggling not to laugh and Lana had given up trying not to laugh. Her face flickered in bemusement.

Lois shook her head in response. "Yeah, right, right, of course, I should have known."

"You should have known," Chloe agreed with her. There was a bit of a bemused smile crossing her face.

Lois sighed and she walked off in an attempt to try to get herself dried up. Chloe really looked towards Clark. "Well, you really know how to make an impression on someone."

"I'm kind of disappointed that you didn't use your X-Ray vision," Kara said. Clark looked at her, giving her the side long look. Kara shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I didn't, and she had less to hide from me, than she did from you."

"You haven't used your X-Ray vision for….more interesting purposes, have, you, Clark?" Lana asked him.

Clark grasped her calmly around the waist and Lana shivered when Clark had her trapped against the wall.

"I don't think that I have a need to do so," Clark replied. "Because, you've shown me plenty willingly, but you know that, don't you?"

Chloe laughed, half putting her attention on the news article. She was looking through the documents, flipping through them. She bit down on her lip with a soft frown of her face and bit down on her lip. There wasn't much more new information and Chloe dug pretty deep.

"Someone that this though, she's not going to blend in too well," Chloe said. "And the government is going to make sure everyone knows her name and who she was."

"She might be armed, but she seems dangerous," Clark said. "Because, she's being cornered, and you know what they say about a cornered animal."

That was one of the biggest problems, unfortunately. Clark didn't know what he was going to have to deal with, all that he knew was that he was going to have to deal with it eventually. There was something about this entire mess that she didn't like.

Chloe was thinking about as much as Clark was. The woman didn't seem to be the type of person that would attack someone willingly. In fact, all of the eye witness reports indicated that she didn't attack someone until it was out of self defence.

"Well, you know what to do, Clark," Chloe said. She closed her eyes. "My uncle is in town….because of some security concern. Lois didn't really say that much though."

Perhaps Chloe was putting two and two together and getting seven, but she would have to say that there was not too much of a coincidence that General Lane showed up in town, around the same time that a dangerous pyrokinetic on the run from the government did.

It put her at a slight amount of ease that Clark wasn't the person that was being targeted now. There were also a lot more questions than there were answers.

Lois returned at that moment and she was wearing a white tank top, along with a pair of tight jeans. Her hair was tied back.

"Sorry, you had to see me like that," Lois said. She smiled when she looked at Clark. "The good news is that you didn't see me when I first got out of bed. Now that's a horror show."

"Oh, it's that bad, huh?" Clark asked.

"Yes, it's pretty bad," Chloe said in an absent minded tone. She was trying to direct her line of questioning to an angle where she could ask something to Lois. "So, Lois, do you have any idea why the General came to town?"

"Yeah, because he gives me his entire manifesto," Lois said.

"But, surely you might have overheard something?" Clark asked. He was thinking along the same lines of what Chloe was thinking.

Lois frowned when she looked at him. She wondered why he was so curious about it. "Yeah, why are you so curious about it, Smallville?"

"Smallville?" Lana asked.

"Well, he seems like the epitome of small town aw shucks, and we are in Smallville," Lois suggested. She looked at Kara, who responded with a shrug. "I don't know, it just seemed a little bit fitting."

"You know, it kind of does in a way," Kara said.

One could see Chloe throw her head up and bury her head into her hands. It was obvious that she was giving Kara some kind of side long look, trying to pretty much beg her not to encourage her cousin. It wasn't going to work that way.

"So, did you hear anything?" Clark asked. "I mean…..you know, Chloe is working for the school paper and she found that there was some pryokinetic woman coming into town."

"Oh, the government is always after someone who has powers, or thinks that they do," Lois said with a shrug. She didn't really think much of it. "It is just like some people have a big obsession with aliens….I mean seriously, a bunch of little green men or something? What are they going to do, steal my panties?"

"Now, that sounds enticing," Kara said with a smile.

Lois blinked. She wasn't sure if serious or not.

"Well, you'd figure that they'd have better things to do," Clark answered.

"And you'd think that if they were a so called advanced species, they would have better things to do with their time than visit Earth and abduct a bunch of rednecks and butt diddle them," Lois said.

Chloe was glad she wasn't drinking coffee right now, because she would have spat it all over her keyboard.

"Seriously, Lois?" Chloe asked.

"Seriously though, humans are pretty fucked up as a species," Lois said. "If was an advanced alien race, I would try and stay away from them."

Clark shook his head. If he had to say one thing about Lois was that she spoke her mind to an almost insane fault. Regardless, he was going to have to search around and see if he could find out anything more about his mysterious friend. He had a couple of ideas what he wanted to do right now.

* * *

There were times where Clark thought things through and there were times where his morbid curiosity got the better of him. He had been fighting these meteor mutants for an extremely long time and he knew that they were getting more prominent. Smallville was getting a fair amount of attention as well.

Clark stopped when his head reared back and he frowned. He knew that if he was able to follow this trail, the government would not be that far behind.

"Are you sure that you don't need back up?" Kara asked him in the ear piece.

"I'm fine," Clark answered. "It's better if I go in there all alone, so she doesn't think that I'm swarming her."

"And that's if she doesn't assume that you're some government stooge already," Chloe answered. She raised her finger to the bridge of her nose and pinched it. "But, trust me, I think that you know what you're doing."

"If you think so," Clark answered.

He didn't even know that she was in there.

"Careful, boy scout, you hunt around the bad part of town that much, you're going to get burned."

Clark turned around and he saw the red headed vixen staring him down. She had an exotic pair of orange eyes that peered him from underneath a pair of sunglasses. It was obvious that she was trying to be conspicuous.

"So, you're the hero that everyone talks about," Claire said. She smiled when she put her hand on his chest and caused his shirt to slightly smolder. "You seem to be the right height…..don't want to burn you too much though, wouldn't want to damage that pretty face?"

Claire smiled and she looked at him.

"I know who you are, I know that you're Claire Selton, you escaped a government containment facility, your codename was Volcana, and you were on the run from the government after they tried to sanction you," Clark told her. "And they're after you and they've sent the military to bring you in by any means necessary."

"Careful there, handsome, you say too much and you might find yourself in a cell yourself, when they try and figure out your story, "she said. Her hand absent mindedly ran down his abs and slowly slipped inside his waist band. "Have you been stalking me?"

"I just…..I didn't want you to put people in danger," Clark said. He was very much aware how close her hand was.

"Oh, well, you're trying to be my Daddy, then?" she asked. Claire smiled when she pulled her hand back. "You know, he was a dead beat who sold me out for the government when my powers cropped up. If he just stopped for directions, my mother wouldn't be dead, and I wouldn't have this gift,"

Claire smiled, looking over her shoulder. She could feel his strong arms wrap around her and run her out into the middle of a field.

"The government can't be after you this hard, if you just escaped," Clark said to her.

Volcana smiled. "You're a nice, handsome, young man, who is way the fuck out of his depth here. And the United States government as you know it, are just puppets for some people who are higher up. They run things from the shadows, they do the things that the politicians in Washington will never bloody their hands with."

"What type of things?" Clark asked. He was getting sick and tired of the word games.

"You know, for a polite boy scout, aw shuck type, you can get pretty hot under the collar," Claire said. She was smiling. "But then again, you're full of surprises."

"What type of things?" Clark repeated.

"Things that would make you hide in your room and sleep with one eye open," Volcana said. "I was an assassin for a branch of the government, that the rest of them doesn't like to talk about. But they don't like it when their little Suicide Squad gets compromised."

"A Suicide Squad?" Clark asked.

"Well, it's official on the books name is Task Force X," Volcana remarked. "But they call it the Suicide Squad. I've got information though that should have gotten me out of it, but the Wall didn't want to play ball."

Clark was being left with more questions than he had answers and he didn't really like that fact.

The whirling of helicopters could be heard and Clark stepped back. Right into the path of several army jeeps that drove up next to him.

"I don't know how they keep finding me!" Volcana yelled. She looked about ready to erupt.

Clark grabbed her hand. She flinched underneath his grip for a brief second. "Don't do anything, just relax."

Claire gnashed her teeth. She hated to be told to relax but she was going to have to trust the boy scout, she guessed. At least for right now, but she was fiery by nature and quick to have a temper.

"Fine, what do we do Superboy?" Claire asked, speaking that next name in a mocking tone of voice.

"This is General Sam Lane. We have you surrounded Selton, don't do anything irrational and we won't harm you."

"It's too late for that," Claire said.

Clark groaned, this wasn't the way he would choose to meet Lois's father.

"She has an accomplice."

That was bad news for Clark.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Eruption.**

* * *

It was not difficult to see how upset Claire Selton looked. Pardon the pun, but she looked fairly ready to erupt. Her hands shook quite violently when she swayed herself.

Clark could sense that there was trouble coming. Perhaps that was because he was used to being around some women who had questionable anger control issues. Or perhaps it was because the ground was heating up beneath him.

"Make sure you take him down as well as her, he might be a hostage, but we don't want to take any chances," General Lane said. "We'll sort it all out when we figure things out."

Clark didn't want to sort this out, because he didn't much fancy answering questions like who he was and where he came from. There was also the part where his friends and family could be put in danger as well.

He turned towards Volcana and the term hot under the collar never had been more appropriate. She was breathing in and out quickly. The rocks on the ground started to shake and turned molten, rising up into the air.

Clark grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down to the ground. He pushed her, just avoiding a stun rocket that was shot at both of them. The rocket connected with the ground and caused an explosion that blinded them with a cloud of smoke. Clark was able to keep ahold of the woman in question.

"I thought I told you to stay calm," Clark said in her ear.

The woman struggled underneath his grip and shook her head. "I tried to stay calm, but funny enough, it didn't work all that well."

Clark didn't know what he was going to do with a woman like this. He jumped in front of one of the rocket launchers and took a rocket straight to the chest. That caused him to become stung a little bit and burned through his shirt.

That caused the troops to look at him in confusion. The distraction allowed Clark to bounce up to his feet and disarm them.

He looked over his shoulder and his heart started to race. Clark leaned down and scooped up Volcana, dragging her completely off away from the troops.

Volcana realized that she was on other side of the county line. She dropped to her knees and shook her head. It had been a long time that she had lost control of her powers like that.

"You need to control your powers better," Clark lectured.

"Yes, thanks for the tip, boy scout, now don't you have a cat to rescue for a tree or something?" Volcana asked him. She got to her feet. "You do realize that after that little show that you gave them, you wouldn't…..they won't let up until they figure out what you were. You could be prime material for their little Suicide Squad."

"I don't get why General Lane would work for something like this," Clark said.

"Why, it sounds like you know the man?" Claire asked. She looked towards him, the frown getting wider on her face. "Do the two of you get together for poker night or something like that, every now and again?"

Clark didn't answer that question.

"I hope that he didn't recognize you if that was the case, they're like a pack of dogs and they won't let up until they get the bone that they're after," she continued. She was glad that her case was in one piece. "Trust me when I say, the less you know about me, the better. I can be some pretty bad news. But this should be my ticket out of here….at least the money will get me a ticket on a plane."

"And what makes you think that they won't stop hunting you down?" Clark asked her.

"Sweetie, listen to me, things get a bit murky when I cross the border," Volcana said. He was so precious, so innocent. She almost wanted to deflower him.

She shook her head. She needed to keep herself calm and keep herself from erupting, the really bad pun that she was going over in her head was really more than intended to be honest.

"Trust me when I say that everything will be okay,' Volcana added. "You need to take care of what you need to take care of."

She paused.

"And the best thing that you can do right now is to stay away from me, and don't get caught in the crossfire," Volcana said. "There's a pretty good chance that this might all blow over, if you just let it go. Sure it might take a couple of months. If you're like me, and can't stay out of trouble, there's a problem."

Volcana smiled and she leaned forward. Her hot lips pressed against his with a slight, teasing kiss.

"I'm sure that you have some cows that need to be milked or something," Volcana said. She walked off with a smile and a swagger in her step.

"Well, you're not going to leave her alone, are you, Clark?" Chloe asked. "And here I thought that it was only women who went after the bad boys. You're going after the bad girls."

"You and your god damn troublesome redheads, it's going to get you into trouble someday," Lana said.

"Well, to be fair it all started with you," Clark commented in a cheeky voice. "She won't get that far…..I can follow the trail that she leaves."

"Well given that she left one starting with your lips, it should be pretty easy enough," Kara commented blandly.

"Yes, I know," Clark said. "I got the sense that she was going to meet with someone before I rudely interrupted her."

"Well, guess you're going to be even ruder and interrupt her again, after she asked you nicely not to," Chloe replied.

Clark shook his head and he was off to the races once again.

* * *

Claire thought that she was holding a smoking gun in her hands. The lobby of this flea bitten hotel was completely empty. It was hard to tell whether or not anyone would be suspicious in this place. That was because everyone in a place like this tended to be among the more suspicious types.

She whistled underneath her breath, bobbing her head up and down. The bag dangled from her hand when she waited to see what she was going to do next. The redheaded vixen assumed that all she had to do was wait for her fence to show up.

There he was, at the front door. He wouldn't win any beauty prizes that's for sure. With the amount of money he had, he could buy female company, if he chose to that was. He seemed to be in love with money, which suited Claire just fine.

She had a hard sell for him.

"Ah, my dear, right this way," the fence said. He spoke in a raspy voice. There was a scar on his throat and he may have had throat cancer surgery at one point in his life.

That was why Claire was not surprised when he took a cigar and lit it up.

"You know, smoking is bad for your health, right?" Claire asked him. She couldn't stand the smell of cigar smoke.

"Yes, if you listen to those quacks, everything is bad for your health," the fence said in his raspy tone of voice. He gave a very obvious smoker's cough when he looked at her. "So what do you got for me now, Miss Selton?"

"Please don't use my real name too loudly," Claire said. She was looking nervously.

"I thought that your real name was safer to use than your other name," the fence said. He frowned when he looked at her. "Someone is after you, aren't they?"

Claire couldn't really say much of anything. She nodded.

"That's why you came to me for such a cheap price," the fence said.

"Look, you can sell something like this, to any party at a premium," Claire said. She held the briefcase up into his face.

"Put it down, I've seen enough," the fence answered. "I could see what is in that case, if it's anything of value. But it seems to be the more valuable thing is sitting in front of me right here."

"Earl, you swine!" Claire yelled. She was heating up.

"And they're showing up to meet you right now," Earl the fence said. He gave her a grin, showing his teeth rotted from years of heavy smoking. "First time I made a transaction in ages. The government set me up with a nice little retirement home."

"Oh, I'm sure that they did," Claire said. She could hear them swarming there. "Maybe I should set you up for a free cremation though."

The cigar pulled from Earl's mouth and he gave a startled gasp when she held the burning end on it in her hands. It twitched between her fingers.

"Volcana, come out!" one of the government goons yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Oh, I'm sure that you'd want to come in," Claire said. She rotated the burning flames between her fingers. She sniffed the air. "Earl, you've been drinking some bourbon haven't you?"

"You crazy b….." Earl said, before the flames shot out of her hands and engulfed the table. It slowly surrounded him.

"You should have not sold me out," Volcana said. She could see the doors burst open and the government goons stampeded inside.

She gave a little bit of a grin. She was about ready to burn them about as badly as they burned her. Claire lifted her hands up into the air and launched the bursts of flame from her hands and caused them surround them.

"Oh, is it getting a little too hot for you?" she asked them, practically taunting them.

There was a blur that came in and put the fires out, along with knocking out all of the government goons. Volcana tapped her foot anxious. She picked up the case, she was going to really have to rethink her strategy.

Unfortunately, her new friend was right in front of her. That cause Volcana's lips to curl into a frown.

"Okay, here's the deal, I'm flattered, I honestly am," she said. She looked into his eyes. "But I had this perfectly handled, and you're just making things worse."

"Come with me, I can help," Clark said. That caused the woman to practically tut when she looked at him.

"You're sweet…well almost," she admitted. "But if you really think that you can help me any, then you've honestly got another thing coming. What are you going to do, just hide me up in your little treehouse or something?"

"I can help you," Clark repeated to her.

"I'm not the type of girl you take home to your Ma," Claire said. Her eyes glowed. "I can be a bitch sometimes, and if you play with fire, you're get burned. But maybe you're not afraid of getting burned. Maybe you want a thrill or two."

Clark could feel the flames surround him. The alcohol was extremely flammable.

He rushed all of the patrons in the bar out, including the knocked out government officials. Now it was time for him to return to the bar.

He realized that he was on fire, but that really didn't bother him. He moved on in and tried to put out the flames.

Clark allowed himself a moment to cool down, in the literal and figurative sense of the world. He knew right away that she was gone, about as fast as she left.

He shouldn't be surprised. If she was slippery enough to deal with the government the way that she was doing, then she should be slippery enough to get away from him fairly easily.

The real question was where did she go? Clark honestly didn't know and he was more than intent to find out.

* * *

"What the hell happened to you?"

Clark returned to Chloe's. He was going to see if she had any ideas. The only problem was that Chloe wasn't the first person Clark ran into, rather it was Lois.

"Well, there was a mishap earlier today," Clark said.

"Yeah, I'd say, you smell like….well you smell like whatever my father tries to cook out in the backyard," Lois commented without missing a beat. She wrinkled her nose when she looked him over. "Got say this Smallville, that's a bit of a disaster area."

"Well, I had a mishap with the barbeque," Clark said.

"Good thing you didn't catch on fire," Lois said seriously.

"No, I managed to put out my shirt just a little bit," Clark said.

Lois wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, well….you're not even burned, that's amazing."

She thought that Clark might as well have been the luckiest bastard on the planet today or there was something up. Perhaps that's just what Lois was thinking, perhaps she was just putting two and two together and getting twenty, but she thought that there was something wrong there.

"Oh, Clark, I was worried," Chloe said. She stepped forward towards him. Lois stopped her short.

Kara turned up next to her and it was obvious by the look in her eyes she was about ready to lecture Clark about diving into things on his own. Nothing would beat what he was telling herself. The two of them locked eyes, in time to hear Lois's all too detailed assessment of the situation.

"Be careful, he smells lot burned hot dogs," Lois informed Chloe.

"Oh, yeah….things could have been much worse," Chloe said. "He could have smelled like a volcano after it was erupted."

"Oh come on now, Chloe, he'd be a tad bit vaporized if he was in the middle of a volcano," Lois said. She continued to frown at him. "You really messed up pretty bad to get zapped with something like that, and did I mention that you're pretty lucky that you didn't spontaneously combust?"

Clark wondered if Lois was putting something together and he decided to play it cool. Saying the least amount of words was possible. "Yes, you might have mentioned it. It was just a really bad mistake."

"Hey, I'm not bashing on you for not being able to cook, God only knows that I'm one who doesn't have any room to talk with how well she can cook," Lois said. Clark raised his eyebrow. "I mean, I've been known to burn cereal…cold cereal….and yes before you say anything, it's possible. And don't ask me how it's been possible, but it is possible. Because I've done it, and I can't believe what I've done, but I've done it."

Lois was running off at the mouth constantly. Clark couldn't believe how much she spewed form her mouth. He looked from her to Chloe who was barely able to keep the expression of bemusement off of her face.

"And here we go."

"And I mean, I'm not really as great as my sister, Lucy," Lois said.

"So, your sister is a good cook?" Clark asked. Chloe couldn't clap her hand over Clark's mouth, fast enough.

"Yeah, I have to hear about how proper she is, and all that, all of the time from General," Lois said. She was gaining steam and Chloe knew that she was about ready to fly in with all of the subtly of a runaway freight train. "But, that's just how good Lucy is. I have to hear Lucy does this and Lucy does that, how great Lucy is. I have to admit Smallville, that makes me almost want to get sick with all that I hear about her."

Lois shook her head.

"Don't get me wrong, I love my sister to death, but she can be a royal pain in the ass when she wants to be," Lois said. She sighed long and hard. "And my sister, she wants to be a royal pain in the ass often….and half of the time, it's my fault that she gets indicted in some foreign country."

Clark gave Chloe a side long look and she mouthed "don't ask."

"Even though it's not my fault, it's just…"

"So, I think that I'm going to take a shower, so unless you want to join me, I think that we should just take five on this one for a while," Clark said.

Lois looked gobsmacked at his casual shower invite and that was when Chloe just lost it. Laughter was something that came through her and even Kara grinned. Lois shook her head.

"Well to be fair, it's only fair, and he did offer to return the favor after he saw you in a towel," Chloe said.

"That wasn't on purpose, I didn't mean to show him, and he didn't mean to see," Lois said. She collapsed on the bench.

No sooner did she collapse down was her cell phone rang. Normally, Lois would be crisp enough not to answer this, but one look at the cell phone indicated that this was her father and it was in her best interest to answer this.

She sighed deeply. If it wasn't one thing, it was another for her. She answered her cell phone. "Yes, Daddy, what is it?"

* * *

General Sam Lane was more than willingly enough to believe that one encounter was a coincidence. He was almost willing to believe that there was some incompetence going on around him.

A second time and potentially a third time took things far out of the territory of coincidence, into some kind of enemy action. The man tapped his finger when he waited outside of a conference room. He felt like a little kid who had been summoned to the Principal's office, and he didn't like it.

What he liked even less was that he thought that there were few things that he was being told now. He gritted down on his teeth and looked like someone who was about ready to snarl and attack.

"She'll see you now."

Lane decided to settle himself into a respectful manner. This was an extremely powerful woman he was dealing with. She had friends in high places that could make his life a living hell by the books and she had friends in extremely low places that would make his life a living hell off of the books.

He opened the door and saw a large and imposing black woman. Her personality fit her stature for sure.

"General Lane, have a seat," the woman told him.

"Ms. Waller," Lane said. He sat down in front of the woman. She didn't offer him a drink and he didn't ask for one. "There's one virtue that wins wars, you know."

"And what's that, General?" Waller asked him.

"Communication," General Lane said. He could see Waller's eyebrow cork when she looked at him. "You sent me here to take care of the gifted and bring her in. That's fine and I accept that. People who have powers should have a closer eye on them, because I think that we can agree that there are enough dangerous people who are perfectly normal out there, much less throwing powers into the equation."

"I agree," Waller answered. "But you're not looking at the bigger picture, General."

Sam Lane knew where she was coming from. It was part of a man's duty to follow the orders of people who looked at the bigger picture.

"Volcana's arrival in Smallville of all places was not coincidental," Waller said.

"What do you mean?" Lane asked. He paused and he realized that. "You….purposely allowed her to come here."

"Yes, General, now you're getting the picture," Waller said. "She's going to confirm a rumor that I've been chasing for almost fifteen years. Something crashed here on this planet other than meteors and I want to find out what."

General Lane looked at her. He thought that she was playing a very dangerous game. He came all the way to Smallville to capture some mutant, some government project. Now Waller was talking about aliens.

"I trust that we're not going to have a problem with this, General," Waller said. She looked Lane straight in the eye.

He stared back at her without blinking. "No."

Lane didn't much prefer using some mutant freak as bait, but then again, that would force him to redouble his efforts.

"I'm glad that you can see the bigger picture," Waller said. "No one will be harmed if this young man is the hero that people believe him to and no one has. He should be working for the government. A private agenda with that kind of power makes people restless."

"People will be at ease if they knew that their government had a leash on that kind of power and harnessed it for their own good," General Lane said.

He looked like a dog with a bone, but he needed to make a call. He excused himself instantly.

"Lois, stay at your cousin's house, don't leave for any reason."

With that out of the way, he could focus on his mission at hand.

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: Eruption.**

* * *

Clark thought that he could go into this battle alone this time, but he wasn't about ready to go into alone now. He was going to walk into the battle with plenty of backup. He walked beside Kara who followed him calmly. She stuck back to the shadows.

"Are you sure that she hasn't skipped town?" Kara asked.

"Skipping town might not be the best thing to do for her now, given the circumstances," Clark said. "I'm sure that there are people at all of the exits, just waiting to block her off at the right time."

"And it wouldn't hurt if I told you to be careful, would it?" Chloe asked. That caused Clark to raise his eyebrow in surprise. "You know how the General gets….well you don't, but I do. And Lois will tell you if she's let in on this. Which, are you planning on letting her in on what you're doing?"

"Not yet," Clark admitted. He sounded half distracted. In reality, he was on the search for Volcana. She had to be around there somewhere, the real question was where. He wasn't a person who appreciated having some kind of go around to find the person that he liked. "We will find her, though."

"I'm honestly glad that you think that, Clark, I really am," Chloe admitted. There was a begrudging tone to her voice when she spoke. "But you're kind of getting off on the topic of Lois…and yes, I get that there are way too many people who know your secret already. Especially when my Uncle is sniffing around like a dog after a bone. But, I know Lois and she already suspects something. Better to tell her straight out, then…"

"Chloe, we'll deal with that when it's time to deal with it," Clark told her.

Clark wasn't really arguing against telling Lois, but he was just arguing that they had to find.

"So, have you had any sightings that I can go off on?" Clark asked. He sounded cordial and dare he say it, a bit hopeful, but he thought that his patience ran out.

"Well, if I knew something, there's a pretty good chance that our fine military people would know it as well," Chloe said. She cleared her throat. "They tend to have their eyes and ears on everything."

'Which means that they're listening in on this conversation right there," Kara said.

"Kara, don't be so paranoid," Clark said.

"Actually, wouldn't be surprised if Big Brother is always listening to us, but I'm doing everything that I can to block that out, when I can at least," Chloe said. "Have some faith in me with what I'm doing."

"Believe me Chloe, I do have faith in you," Clark said.

"That's good, I'm glad," Chloe commented. "I just hope that you find her, and get her to cool down."

Clark had to echo his hopes. He was looking around and notices a rather suspicious looking figure walking around. He used his enhanced vision to peer forward.

Kara did the same thing and she gave a slightly started gasp. "That's her, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Clark confirmed. He didn't know what state of mind he was in.

Claire thought that she should find a place to lay down until the heat was off her. She wondered what the hell was going on. It seemed like she couldn't even take a piss without someone breathing down her neck.

"I think that I know how they're finding you."

Claire looked up and saw the big blue boyscout standing in front of her. "Oh….well if you know so much, then I'm all ears because I apparently don't know anything."

"They're tracking you through that," Clark commented to her.

That caused Claire to be utterly gobsmacked. It seemed that she was trying to piece together everything. The frown deepened over her face when she looked from the case in her hand, all the way to the young man standing before her.

"They…it was too easy to take this," Claire said. She never once opened it, she just assumed.

That was one of the worst mistakes she could have made, but desperation did some really funny things to a person. The case dangled from her hand and she cracked it open. A tracking device fell from the case and landed on the ground.

"So, that's what they did," Claire said. "And here I thought my old fence sold me out for a few dollars."

Granted, he kind of did, but that was not the only reason.

"You got to run, now," Clark told her.

"Yeah, I'm not running anyone, kid," Claire said. She could hear them approaching. "I've been running for too long, it's time to teach them a lesson."

She felt incensed about the fact that she was so used. Volcana stepped forward and she looked about ready to live up to her namesake. She made a couple of steps forward and her hands shook. She could the do gooder and his girlfriend going into the shadows, hiding behind some trees.

Honestly, that was up to them what they did. Just like it was up to her what she did.

Her heart sped up with a solid beat against her chest. The woman was seconds away from an immense eruption, or so it did seem.

"Lane, time to come out and face me, if you think that you can get me," she said. Her eyes twisted into extremely dangerous looking slits and she looked at the edge of losing her mind.

General Sam Lane exited. He stepped towards the woman in question. He had a miniature army to sustain her.

Kara stood tense and rigid. She was about ready to jump in, but Clark told her that she shouldn't, at least not yet.

Kara was about to protest against it, but she decided to trust Clark. Trust that he knew what he was doing.

"This wasn't about me, I'm just a pawn," Volcana said. She looked Lane right in the eye. "Just like you're a pawn for the Wall. The only difference is that while I'm in it for the money, you've lied to yourself. It's all about the country."

"Tell me about your associate," Lane said to her.

"Oh, he's not an associate of mine, he's just some do gooder that's got in way over his head," Volcana said. "He didn't share his backstory with me. Maybe his parents were killed before his eyes or something. That's how it always starts."

Kara and Clark hovered above the ground. They were waiting for the moment of truth.

"Waller got some new toys, and suddenly I'm not worth her time, therefore she put me in a freezer until she needed a weapon to throw at people," she continued. She was getting momentum and the ground cracked beneath.

"Fall back!" Lane yelled. He wasn't losing any of his men.

"Oh, you can fall back as much as you'd like, but I'm going to show you how it feels to be in the hot seat!" Volcana yelled. There was a part of her that cracked.

Clark sensed the eruption, and he shot forward. Kara followed him and they lifted all of the troops off of the ground.

General Lane didn't know what happened. One second, he was in front he was in front of dangerous meta human and seconds later, he was sprinted out of here.

"What just happened?" one of his men asked. That was a question that Lane couldn't answer, even if he wanted to, and he did want to. "Sir, do you have any idea….."

"No, I don't," Lane admitted. He wanted to find out, but he honestly had no idea whatsoever regarding what happened.

He pulled himself to his feet and looked around, a frown crossing his face. He didn't know what the hell happened to be honest, but his intention was to find out and find out pretty soon, one way or another.

* * *

"We searched the area, and she escaped," Lane said. He was finishing the full report to Amanda Waller.

Waller didn't say anything for a long period of time. Several beats passed before the imposing woman surveyed him over a stack of papers. She was looking through a series of photos and frowning about something.

"I don't know where she could have gone," Lane admitted. He looked at the woman. "But, rest assure, I won't rest until I find her."

"Don't bother, General, we have a good idea what we need now," Waller said. "And she's served her purpose, for now. Unless she becomes a direct menace, we shouldn't worry about her. She'll come back into our lives eventually, because where else does she have a place to go?"

Rhetorical question was in fact extremely rheortical. Lane nodded in response. He didn't like it as a father and as a man of his country that these meta humans were used as live bait.

"You need to use small fish to catch the bigger ones, General," Lane said. "Remember that."

That was one of the rules of war and General Samuel Lane remembered that. He didn't like that, but he remembered it extremely clear.

"Yes, M'am," Lane commented. His tone was crisp when he looked towards Waller. "I know, M'am."

"Excellent," Waller responded when she filed through some paper and looked at them. She allowed herself a momentary frown when she flipped through the paper on the desk in front of her. "So, you saw him up close?"

"I didn't even see him for a second, but he was the one that got us out of there….despite the fact that we tried to attack him," Lane said.

"That's what put him on our radar in the first place, he rescues people in need," Waller informed Lane. "And those powers, more people are catching notice of them."

"Getting your hands on him isn't going to be easy," Lane said. "Given that he can just as easily pick my men up and sprint them out of there without any kind of problem."

"Yes, there is an issue there," Waller agreed. She flipped through the pictures she got her hands on. Most of them were an indistinguishable blur.

If one understood where Amanda Waller was coming from, they would get that she was the type of person not to play a safe hand. She was an individual who played an extremely dangerous and extremely crafty game. There were people who shuttled around on the boards.

Calculated risks were the name of the game for her and she had calculated more movements.

"He should work for us, and he'll be an ideal person to do so," Waller said. "I would say stick in Smallville for a couple more weeks, but I think that my team will pick it up from here."

"It was an honor, Ms. Waller," Lane told her.

Waller nodded. The honor was all hers in some ways. She leaned back in a calm manner and tapped her pen against the folder.

One could argue that Amanda Waller could get a little obsessed regarding some things and one would be right. She was an individual who knew what she wanted and more importantly, she knew when she wanted it.

She frowned when she looked over the picture. It was an item she could scan over and over again.

Someone knew something in Smallville, but they certainly weren't telling. There were a lot of secrets in a small town. The meteor mutant problem was getting out of control. Some of them could be of use, if they had not lost all sense of their mind. There were other meteor mutants that needed to put down.

That allowed Waller to think what she wanted to do next when she moved forward. The fact there was another one assisting the first one made her wonder.

There was some wreckage that fell about five years back. Almost, like someone was ready to follow the first person out.

Way too many questions and not enough answers. That was what Waller hated most of all when people forced her to play a guessing game.

A knock on the door caused her eyebrow to raise. "Ms. Waller, there are some papers for you to sign."

The voice was calm and cordial. There was no reason for Waller to suspect that anything was out of the ordinary. A day didn't go by without her having papers of some sort to sign. That was just how things honestly went for her.

"Bring them in," Waller declared.

The door opened and a rather attractive dark haired woman walked into the room. Her hair was pinned back behind her in a ponytail, she wore a pair of glasses, and a nice female business suit. Her blouse had a couple of buttons tastefully undone and she had a skirt that was of a modest length.

"You aren't my usual secretary," Waller said.

"Rachel had to call in tonight, female problems, I'm the temp, your people debriefed me….don't know why, because, isn't this some kind of waste disposal service?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Waller commented. She seemed blissfully ignorant about what was going on in here. "Set them down please."

The woman nearly staggered forward and knocked Waller's coffee off of the desk. She looked absolutely appalled. "Oh, sorry, sorry, I'm sorry, let me clean that up."

Waller raised her eyebrow. She was going to have to have a talk with human resources. The temps they were bringing in were getting worse by each week. This one looked like she could barely spell her name.

"I mean, it's my first day, and I'm nervous….and I was told to bring you these papers, and they said they were important," she said in a babbling tone of voice. "I'm sure I can fix this….."

"Don't," Waller said firmly. "Don't bother…..and you can leave know, I know where these papers go."

"Right," the secretary said. She nearly knocked over a lamp when she was on her way out. "That could have been bad….I mean really bad, you know if I would have knocked it over."

She made her way towards the door and struggled to open it. Waller spoke in a firm tone of voice. "It twists the other way."

"Right, of course it does," she replied, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm kind of dense, you'd think that I was born a blonde."

The woman pushed her way out of the office and made her way out of the room. She moved past two security guards who gave her one of those looks, acting like she was just kind of out of her mind and if one looked at her, they might got that impression.

The good news was that Waller didn't expect who she was. And she didn't notice that her little klutz act allowed her to place a bug underneath Waller's desk, undetected.

* * *

Perhaps it was just Clark, but he thought today was a hell of a day and he couldn't wait to do some normal Clark Kent style things.

He might be one of the few peoples who had super powers that would appreciate being normal. Perhaps that made him a bit abnormal in his own way. Clark didn't know, and he was at the point where he just was going to go with the flow. He just needed to do what he had to do and that was all that he could do.

Clark thought that it was rapidly reaching the point where he couldn't hide. He considered going public with his abilities, but he didn't know how that would be even possible. That was going to be a dangerous road as well.

He would have to talk to his parents, both set of parents, regarding that fact. And he knew that this was going to be a long and involved talk that he was not going to like some of the things that was talked about.

Regardless, he had a lot to think about. He made his way to the edge of the barn. It was a place, despite the fact that he had a high tech Fortress, where he liked to think.

"And here you are, leaving me wondering what took you such long," a calm voice stated. "I didn't peg you as being that kind of a guy, but I guess in some ways that you are the kind of guy that would leave a girl hanging."

Clark recognized his voice and tensed up. He could see Claire Selton sitting there. The woman known as Volcana was casually dressed in a red tank top and cut off shorts, her hair tied back. She kicked her shoes off when she relaxed on the bail of hay. She wore a pair of sunglasses and her hair was tied back.

"Hey, relax, I come in peace," she said. "You know…..I'm almost glad you grabbed the General and his flunkees today."

She sighed in response.

"I didn't take being made a pawn so well," she offered him. Clark raised his eyebrow and she smiled. "Well, I doubt that anyone really takes being made a pawn so well. And….I have been having a rough time being on the run all of those months."

"Do you think that they'll come after you again?" Clark asked.

"Well, if you have a need of someone of my talents, I'm sure that they'll be breathing down my neck," she offered him. She got to her feet and walked towards her, closing the gap between the two of them. "But, I think that you have a more pressing issue to worry about yourself."

Clark raised his eyebrow and Claire grinned in response towards him.

"They used me as a means to lure you out in the open," Claire continued. "Your heroics have been something that have become well known here in Smallville and I guess around the rest of the world. I guess it proves that no matter what, you can't hide forever, no matter how much you want to."

"I guess I can't," Clark admitted. He hated to admit that as much as the next person.

"Ah, cheer up, I'm sure that everything will be alright," Claire offered him. She could see Clark's gaze on her. "Okay, I pretty much lied through my teeth regarding that one, but….that just comes with the territory."

Clark raised his eyebrow and he came to another grim conclusion.

"You found out who I am," Clark said.

Claire smiled. "Wasn't hard….just had to do some digging. The wrong people are going to start doing some digging before too long, if you don't watch out."

"Yes, it seems like there is no such thing as a private life," Clark offered her.

Claire grinned. "You got that right….I could have turned you into the government….but I didn't do that for a couple of reasons. They're going to find you out anyway, sooner or later, and….well you did save me back there a couple of times. So, I guess that's the last that I can do."

"Thank you," Clark said.

"Hey, no sweat," Claire said. "And you know, since you've been a good boy, and I never settle for the least that I can do….well….."

Claire leaned forward and she captured Clark's lips with a sizzling kiss in response. He was completely and utterly surprised by this action.

She roamed her hands fairly shamelessly all over every inch of his body and felt him up. The grin crossed her face when she reached a certain point.

'_He'll be fun,' _Claire thought. She felt his hands grope her from behind. _'Oh boy, will he ever be fun….and he seems more experienced than he looks. He will be fun.'_

* * *

Lois Lane stood outside of the door of the Kent Farm House. She walked over to nose around, in typical Lois Lane fashion. Her father told her to stay put, but far be it for Lois to listen to someone in a position of authority when they told her what to do.

What she saw left her a strange combination of horny and confused. Mostly horny, but there was an equal amount of confusion that was going through the mind of the brunette, and she struggled to put two and two together to figure out what the hell was going on here.

It turned out she honestly could figure out nothing, and that might be a really bad thing if she couldn't figure out anything. She saw Clark fucking a meteor mutant and she loved it.

His prowess seemed to be super human and the way his hands moved, it was a blur. Lois knew that she shouldn't watch, but she couldn't pull herself away from it. Just like she couldn't pull herself away from herself, as her sticky fingers indicated.

Lois was torn between stepping back or trying to find a way to join in. Given the girl's powers, she didn't want to get burned in the literal sense of the world, as much as the figurative sense.

That did put the entire fact that Clark got barbequed in a brand new and fairly interesting light. Lois couldn't believe that he had it in him, and the fact that he did, kind of made her smile.

She could feel a hand grip her from behind and she slumped down to the ground.

Kara was standing over Lois's body at the Fortress. This was not the way that she wanted her to find out about this. She reached down and fished Lois's cell phone out of her pocket. It took her a moment to figure out the primitive model, but eventually Kara got it working. She held it up to her ear.

"Yes, Kara?" Chloe asked.

"You're going to have to teach your cousin about sneaking around where she doesn't belong," Kara answered.

"If Lois hasn't learned that lesson by now I'm….." Chloe said. She was cut off and sounded gobsmacked by something. "Wait….what in the hell happened now?"

"She walked in Clark when our latest meteor mutant of the week was thanking him from saving her," Kara explained. "I didn't know whether or not she was going to join in or run and tell the world but….I knocked her out all of the same."

"Oh, Kara, you didn't!" Chloe shouted in an exasperated voice.

Kara thought that might not have been the best way to handle the situation, but she panicked.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: Closing In.**

* * *

Lois Lane wondered what the hell kind of dream she had. She actually had dreams before this that made less sense than this, but this was a dream that appeared to so vivid to her, that she couldn't really shake it at all. She blinked when she held her head up, shaking her head when she allowed herself a momentary sigh.

There was a huge part of Lois who privately wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into. She wondered if she might have had a few drinks too many. She was going to be waking up in her dorm room and regretting something, she was sure.

Lois felt a chill go down her spine. She slowly woke up, shaking her head. There was a sense that she had been put to sleep.

She realized that she was in some kind of ice palace, she guessed that was the best way to describe where she landed for lack of a better term. Lois honestly had no idea where she ended up and that was something that terrified her.

"Where am I?" Lois groaned underneath her breath. She twisted her neck back and could feel a snap of chill rise around her.

"You're in a safe place."

Lois looked up and saw Clark's cousin Kara standing over her. That caused a part of her mind to snap back to life and it also reminded her what the hell was happening before she blacked out. What she saw before she blacked out. Lois hated having these many questions, especially when the answers seemed less than plentiful.

"Where am I?" Lois grumbled.

"I told you, you're in a safe place," Kara said. "I didn't know how you'd react and I didn't need you to scream to half of Smallville. Especially, considering that you were getting dangerously close to figuring out that there was something unique about Clark."

"Unique?" Lois asked, shaking her head. "Is that what we're calling that, now?"

"In a sense, yes," Kara replied with a smile. She knew that Lois didn't honestly mean any harm with what she was doing. "Clark and I….well it's complicated."

"What if life isn't?" Lois asked.

She wondered if there was another reason that her father went all the way out to bumfuck nowhere. She had a feeling that it wasn't completely because he had to chase down the latest meteor freak of the week. Lois frowned, tapping her chin when she deduced something.

"It's all coming to me clearly now," Lois murmured underneath her breath. She couldn't believe that she didn't figure it out. "You're….well you're not little green men, because you look human. I guess that's the idea so you could blend in. I mean, a Martian going down the street like that could be a bit conspicuous."

"Of course, Martians aren't conspicuous," Kara said. "Anyone knows that a Martian can shapeshift."

Lois caught two parts of this statement that rattled her. The most obvious point with this statement was that Kara was throwing out what she was saying like this was common knowledge. That alarmed her a little bit. The second part of this statement was the casually dropped news that Martians could shapeshift and that was implied that they could be living among them.

"Wait, you're not Martians are you?" Lois asked. Kara gave her a shift glance and a shiftier grin, which caused Lois to backtrack. "Not that there's anything wrong with it, but….couldn't you have at least tried to talk to me, instead of knocking me out?"

"What would you have done if you had been in my place?" Kara asked crossly.

Lois couldn't answer this question and she realized, much to her thinly veiled amusement, that she would have done the same thing that Kara could did.

She could feel a gust of wind come up across her and that brought Lois back. She looked up, her eyes snapping forward with surprise.

"Well, Smallville, you know how to make an interest," Lois muttered underneath her breath.

Clark didn't really hear what Lois was saying, or maybe he wasn't paying any attention to her. He looked at Kara. "Kara, what did you do?"

"Um, something stupid, I think," Kara replied. She looked the epitome of all things sheepish when she looked at her cousin. Clark was giving her that look and Kara was becoming close to wilting underneath it. She wasn't going to give up when she looked at him. "Oh, what would you have done if you were in my place?"

Clark looked at Kara.

"Tell Chloe and Lana that everything will be okay," Clark told Kara. Kara blinked and she opened her mouth. Clark gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Because of the stunt that you pulled, Chloe is really freaking out that her cousin has been kidnapped."

"Oh, right," Kara said.

Kara wrapped her arms around him and gave him a mostly apologetic kiss. She pulled away from him and Clark looked into her eyes. "You know, if you wouldn't have been so preoccupied with punishing the bad girl then….."

"You know, Volcana won't be the only bad girl that I'll be punishing if you don't get going," Clark told Kara firmly.

Kara shivered down her spine and she turned around. She stopped and looked at Lois. "Sorry about that."

"Well, what's a bit of temporary paralysis between friends?" Lois asked. She gave Kara a shifty smile and winked at her.

Kara was already out the door, faster than a speeding bullet. Clark turned his attention to Lois.

"We're going to need to talk."

* * *

Chloe was worried just a little bit, but who wouldn't be worried when their cousin was snatched up faster than a speeding bullet. She rocked herself back, looking a little bit nervous.

"You know, you shouldn't do that," Lori said. "You're riling us all up a wall, or however the saying goes?"

"The saying is right, and Chloe….I'm sure Kara didn't mean to do anything to Lois," Lana said. "And Lois really shouldn't have been lurking around and sticking her nose into business the way that she was."

"Yes, I know that she shouldn't have, believe me, I know that," Chloe said. She sighed. "She's been like that for a long time, and I don't think that she's going to get much better, no matter how much it's in her best interest to do so."

"Just calm down, Chloe, things will be fine," Lana said. She wished that she could be more reassuring.

"I'm sure that Clark is going to be able to sort things out, isn't that normally what he does?" Lori asked. That caused Chloe to respond with a smile on her face and she nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, I thought so, he's a pretty standup guy, so there shouldn't really be any problems at all, at least I don't think."

"I'm not sure though if Lois is going to react well to being dragged off against her will," Chloe responded.

"Well, Clark will just have to smooth that over," Lana said. She gave Chloe a smile. "I'm sure that he'll find a way to make it worth Lois's while."

"I just hope the harem won't get out of hand, because…..well….these things tend to do so," Lori answered. She could see Lana and Chloe about to correct her like Kara might if she was here. "And yes I know ,it's not a harem, it's a collective, but still with the personalities involved, there's a consideration."

Lana and Chloe gave each other a pair of looks and they both nodded. They had considered that fact very well as well.

"Clark has done a sufficient enough job at taming the girls so far, so we're going to have to trust that he can as do so with even more," Lana said. She didn't want to say that she was one of the girls that he kind of tamed. "And I don't want one word from you, Chloe, because you were on that list as well."

Chloe's shoulders perked up and shrugged. "What, what, I didn't say anything?"

"You were thinking it, don't give me that," Lana said in argument with her. "And you were someone who was just as likely to be needed to get tamed."

Chloe's mouth popped open and Lana gave her a shifty smile in response. Loir had to duck her head, because she was struggling extremely hard not to laugh. It was most certainly a battle for her for sure.

"So, are you done yet?" Chloe asked her.

"Depends, are you going to give me flack?" Lana asked her.

"Okay, the two of you, kiss and make up."

The two of them stood up straight and they could see Kara standing before them. She looked entirely amused by them.

"You didn't kill my cousin, did you?" Chloe piped up.

"Really, you think so little of me?" Kara asked.

"Well, you seemed a bit upset that she discovered Clark and you were afraid that she would end up outing him," Chloe responded with a shrug. "I know that's not the case at all, but….."

"I know where you're coming from, trust me," Kara answered with a sigh and a shrug. "And I panicked a little bit….but Clark is sorting that out right now. He's a bit better of a diplomat now."

Chloe's lips twisted into a ghost of a smile. "That's for sure given that you ended up bopping my cousin on the head."

"I didn't bop her on the head, I induced temporary paralysis," Kara said.

"Is that really much better?" Chloe asked.

* * *

Amanda Waller was almost amused by the fact that the most obvious of answers could be found in the least obvious of places. She started to walk back and forth on the carpet and pretty much wore a hole out in it when she did so.

She sank down on an arm chair and once again flipped through the file. She was looking for some kind of smoking gun that she could use to take out this mysterious young man.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be nothing, he had to have a weakness. The only problem was that the young man got in and got out.

She found the report on the fiasco with the Cheetah woman. She was surprised to see that the young man was injured in the attack and whisked away. Waller realized that she had to tread lightly because the daughter of the Amazon Queen was involved.

If he was injured, he had to have some kind of weakness. The problem was they didn't have detail information on the Cheetah woman, so there was no way to decide whether or not something was amiss here.

Waller frowned deeply. Was she looking at things through the wrong angle? She frowned when she reviewed the papers. She flipped through it and there were more information than she could even manage.

"So, what to do, what to do?" Waller asked. She pulled Lane off of the case, not wanting to involve anyone from the military in something like this.

She had all of the respect for the military in the world. She had a lot of respect for them and how hard they trained. But they were completely and utterly out of their depth and she needed to let them know that.

Waller rose up to her feet and she stepped forward walking down the hallway. She was going through an area of the facility that required Level Seven access. Waller was one of the three people in the world who had that level of access.

She tapped her finger on the edge of the door. Waller swiped her keycard. She paused and listened long enough to hear the lock. It swung open and allowed her way inside. Waller stepped through the doorway and frowned when she entered the area, with an extremely deep frown over her face.

Waller walked into an extremely lush and full hair. She stepped over the vines and through the wild forest.

"Hello, Miss Waller, be careful of the Venus Fly Trap, it's teething," a woman commented in a breathy tone of voice.

Waller made sure that she had the breather device secured on her. This woman used her pheromones to seduce men and women alike. She and her men had injections, but it was really not the worst thin in the world to take all of the precautions in the world.

"Hello, Miss Isley," Waller said. "How are you feeling?"

"You have given me a corner of the world where I can cherish and where I don't have to worry about those cruel humans trampling over my poor babies," the woman spoke from the shadows. She didn't show herself.

"And you're glad that I rescued you from that place that you were put in, aren't you?" Waller asked. "You appreciate what I've done, don't you?"

The woman in the shadows didn't say anything. "I think that you are adequate for what a human can be. But don't think that I'm going to sing your praises or stop my plans from making this world a brighter, greener place."

One of the vines moved. To her credit, Waller didn't flinch and she didn't show any fear. She blinked and looked her adversary straight in the eye.

"I don't expect you to sing my praises, I just hope that you remember why you are here, and where you are going," Waller responded. "I have found someone, someone that might be able to help you achieve your dreams."

"I find that difficult to believe," the woman responded. She didn't look at her, at least for a few seconds. "I find it difficult to believe that you wouldn't have some kind of motive behind this."

"We share the same motives, Miss Isley," Waller said. "We both want to ensure the world is a better place."

"One person's better world can be another person's ever lasting nightmare, Miss Waller," the woman said.

"Pamela….if you succeed in this mission and bring him to the facility, you will be in our debt," Waller said.

The woman leaned out of the shadows. It was obvious that she was a completely gorgeous woman. Her red hair hung down with curls coming down from her face. Her green lipstick parted into a smile. She wore a one piece leafy suit that only covered what needed to be covered. Her amazing breasts, tight ass, and long legs were on display.

"Do we have a picture of this young man?" Pamela asked her. She didn't really have much time for men, but if he was as powerful as Waller was letting on, he would be a valuable asset to allow her freedom.

"Only a few flickering images…..he's found in Smallville," Waller said. She handed Pamela the photos and she took them calmly.

Pamela parted her lips and she scanned over the figure in each of the photos. She frowned when she looked over every single image of the photo.

"Hmm," she muttered to herself. "Smallville is as far away from Gotham City as possible."

"So are you going to take the job?" Waller asked her.

"I'm certain I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Pamela asked her. Waller raised her eyebrow and she got the question answered. "I'll do whatever you want me to do, but remember, our relationship ends when I have this young man."

"We'll discuss that, depending on how successful you are, Miss Isley," Waller replied. Her tone was crisp, calm and oddly cold.

* * *

Lois took a long time to mull over what she learned. She was in two minds about this one. On the one sense, she thought that everything made a whole lot of sense. On the other hand, there was a lot more confusion.

She really was trying to think this over in her mind. She could see Clark looking at her. For the first time in her life, Lois really wished that she could read minds. She thought that it was a scary prospect to read minds, but that was how it was going to go.

She only allowed one statement to pass her lips."Wow."

Clark stood up and he looked Lois in the eyes. "Seriously, after all that I told you, that's all that you can tell me?"

"Well….I guess that there are a few more things that I could tell," Lois said. "It's a wonder that you can keep your secret for one, because you are really a terrible liar."

"So, Chloe and Lana have been telling me for a long time," Clark responded. He wondered if the two of them had been humoring him for a long time. "So, you don't have a problem with this, do you?"

"No, not really but….I can't imagine how this goes….I mean….." Lois said. She bit down on her lip and looked towards Clark. "Seriously though, I don't even know what to say right now."

"I say the first thing that comes to mind, that normally works out well," Clark said. "And I don't think that you have any problem with saying what comes to your mind."

Lois blinked and she shook her head. "No, I don't. I didn't know you that long and I figured out that there was something off about you."

"Good kind of off or bad kind of off?" Clark asked her.

"Unique kind of off," Lois confirmed for him. She didn't really know what to say. All she needed to do was keep talking. "And it's not necessarily a bad thing, you know….just….."

Lois hated this.

"If there's something that I don't like, it's the fact that you've made me tongue tied, and that….." Lois said. She could feel Clark's strong arms wrap around her and pull her into a long kiss.

Lois couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe that he was kissing her and more importantly she couldn't believe that he was kissing back. Lois placed her arms around him and roamed all over her body, feeling his tight muscles underneath his clothes.

This blew her mind. Lois was beyond all words.

He let go of her and allowed her to stagger back. Lois was shaking her head and she blinked several times.

"Wow, that was amazing," Lois said. She shook her head. "So, you have some sort of Alpha male effect over women?"

"What makes you say that?" Clark asked her.

"It seems like the women flock over to you, I mean, Chloe, Lana, Lori, Kara, that one hot chick who is literally hot in more ways than one," Lois said. "And likely there's a couple others that I'm missing….not that I'm implying that you're some kind of man whore or anything."

"I didn't even think that you were implying it, until you mentioned it," Clark said. "If you want me, you're going to have to wine and dine me a little bit."

Lois wondered what she got herself into. The more she thought about it, the more that she appreciated what he could have.

"And it's not every day that you see a guy literally fucking a girl who is literally on fire," Lois said. "Normal guys don't do that, for obvious reasons."

"Well, unless they want to lose their equipment," Clark said.

"If you fucked a girl who explodes every time her emotions got high, that would be literally going out with a bang," Lois said. "I wonder if there are any meteor mutants like that, or something?"

"I don't know," Clark said. He stepped towards her. "So, what do you think about me being an alien?"

"Thought that you were kind of interesting without the alien angle," Lois admitted. "It's that aw shucks good old boy factor that really can rock a girls world. Plus, it's obvious that you're not as innocent as you look."

"Tell me more," Clark said.

"Maybe I should….." Lois said. She paused and she could hear Clark's phone going off. She groaned at the less than ideal timing. "And maybe you should get that."

Clark frowned. He knew that he wouldn't have to answer this unless it was important. He picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hey, Chloe what do you need?" Clark asked.

"Everything is going fine with you and Lois, right?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, everything is going fine," Clark confirmed. He could hear the sigh of relief going from Chloe's voice. "What's wrong with you?"

"There's a bunch of odd plants that have popped up in the middle of Smallville," Chloe said. "It looks like a job for….well it looks like a job for you."

Chloe thought that Clark needed some kind of name, something with a catchy ring to it. But she wasn't going to press that issue.

"Problem in Smallville?" Lois asked him.

"Yes," Clark confirmed for her. "You know for a small town, it has its share of excitement."

"That's for sure," Lois murmured underneath her breath. Clark corked his eyebrow to look at her.

Clark scooped her up and rushed her back into town. She had to say that she could get used to this.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen: Pheromones. **

* * *

A lot of people in Smallville noticed a lot of odd things. One of the oddest things was the number of mysterious visitors that they had over the past couple of weeks. A bus pulled up and the zombfied looking bus driver opened the door.

"Here you go, young lady," the bus driver said. His throat sounded extremely raw and he sounded punch drunk.

A fairly enticing red haired woman exited the bus. She stopped and turned to the bus driver. "Thank you, I'm glad that you were able to take me to Smallville. What is the matter of my fair?"

"It's nothing, you don't have to pay anything," the man said. His throat was dry. "So, is that all that you need from me?"

The red head looked over the man. He wasn't worth drawing attention to herself, at least not yet. "No, that will be all, sweetie….thank you, you've been too kind."

She blew him a kiss and that further ensnared him within her pheromones. She stepped off the bus. The white shirt wrapped around her sizeable chest and her jeans fit snugly around her body. The men at the café looked up and their breath was taken away when she showed up.

"Well, hello," the woman commented. She sauntered over towards them. She walked towards them. "My name is Pamela, I'm new in town."

"Yeah, honey, we get that a lot here," the man in the café said. He looked at her. "So, what can we do for your, baby?"

Pamela was extremely amused. She looked towards him with a smile on her face. _'He thinks that it's smooth, oh that's so precious. I can't believe that, but….that's just precious.'_

The man blinked when he looked at her. She smiled. "Have you heard about the mysterious blur? He moves around, faster than a speeding bullet. They say that he's more powerful than a locomotive, and he can leap tall buildings in a single bound. And he's saved a lot of really good people, from some really bad fates, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that's what he did," the man commented. He looked at her with a frown in response. "But, he's just a rumor, some kind of urban legend, or something like that."

Pamela chuckled in response. She leaned towards the man. She was a few inches away from him. "The best urban legends are the ones that are true. Trust me honey, I know that he's very real. Do you know who he is?"

She blew some pink dust into his face. The man would run over his own mother with a car if she had asked him. Pamela knew it and this man knew it as well. "Do you know who the Blur is?"

"I don't know who he is….he could be anyone, there are a lot of meteor freaks in this city," the man breathed. Sweat poured down his face. Pamela reached forward and cupped his face in response. "It could be any of them, but if I can do anything….."

Pamela allowed him to fall back against the wall. His breathing escalated along with his heart beat. It grew enhanced.

"How about any of you, do you think you can tell me anything about our boy hero?" Pamela asked.

Pink dust filled the air and ensnared them in response. One of the men moved over her, looking like a dog.

"Calm down," she responded to him. "Back off, give me some space."

He obeyed his every world. His heart kept beating against his chest. "Do anything that you want, do anything that you want, just tell me, and I'll do it."

"Yes, you can do anything for me," Pamela informed him. "You can tell me everything about him."

She smiled when she really looked over the man.

"He seems to pop up when people need saving," the man in question said. "And he's out of there soon…he saved my sister like that. He's a true hero….if you ask me, he lives in Smallville. He might be a cop or something for all I know."

"I doubt that very much," Pamela muttered. She didn't think that a cop would be the type to go so far off of the book. Unless it was in Gotham City, where corruption ran rapid in the city. "Thank you for your help, you're too kind…go home to your families and say goodbye to them."

Had the men not been underneath her thrall, they might have asked her why they were told to go home and say goodbye to their families.

Pamela watched them leave. She stepped out of the backdoor of the café. She moved over towards a young man who was standing at the corner.

She blew a cloud of pink dust in his face. "Do you think that you can drive me to the nearest greenhouse?"

"Um, yes, sure," the man said. He moved over towards his car and go in the side of it, opening it up. "Please buckle up, I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Thank you, you're too kind," Pamela said. She got in the passenger seat beside him.

It was a short drive to the greenhouse. She got out when she arrived there.

"Keep driving until you run out of gas," Pamela informed him.

She smiled when she looked at the Greenhouse. It had many exotic plants inside, surprising for a city like Smallville.

She lifted her hand up into the air and caused a large tree to become unrooted. The tree smashed the opening of the Greenhouse open.

It was not any of the Greenhouses she had in Gotham City or the one Waller gifted her, but it would have to do.

Pamela stepped inside and smiled when she looked at the plants. Some of them moved when they looked at her.

"Hello, babies, Mommy's home!" Pamela called in a sign-song voice. "We've got work to do….we've got a brand new friend to meet."

She had to create a new pheromone that would ensnare a super human. There was something that intrigued her when she walked over.

There was some rocks that laid on the ground. A couple of them glowed red. Pamela would have to study them to ensure that she utilized their power properly.

* * *

Clark returned back to Chloe's house. He sensed some oddities going on with the plants, but he was at a loss to figure out what is happening.

Lois, Chloe, Lana, Lori, and Kara all sat around. While Lois was not exactly with the group, when there was an opportunity, she would be in the group. Her father agreed that it would be best to stay with Chloe until the heat blew over.

There was something that General Lane was not telling his daughter. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was.

"So, did you figure it out?" Lois asked.

"The moment I showed up, the plants were gone," Clark said.

"Okay, that's eerily unsettling," Lana said. Chloe turned towards her and nodded.

"This reminds me of a case that's happened about eight years ago in Gotham City," Chloe answered. She started to type on the computer. "There are plants coming to life and no one really knows why."

"Well, I think that you have a pretty good idea, why, don't you?" Lois asked with a frown. Chloe chewed down on her lip and nodded when she kept working on finding the information.

Chloe groaned she popped up and saw something.

"Bingo," she said in a dry tone of voice. She frowned when she shook her head. "And not bingo for a good reason, but bingo for all of the wrong reasons."

"So, does this tie into what is happening in Gotham City?" Kara asked. "Because, I know someone who might be able to help if…"

"Chloe, what do you have for me?" Clark asked her.

"Pamela Lillian Isley worked as an intern for a Doctor Jason Woodrue, and they worked together an experiment that would change the world and repopulate the Earth's plant population in half of the time," Chloe said. "It was an extremely controversial project at the time to be honest, even more so what Woodrue planned to do."

"He tried to weaponize them, didn't he?" Clark asked her.

"How did you ever guess?" Chloe asked her.

"That just seems like how those things normally go," Clark answered. He leaned back with a sigh.

"And Pamela found out about it, and she was going to turn Woodrue in to the authorities," Chloe continued.

"And instead of keeping her mouth shut, she decided to confront the mad scientist on that," Lois answered. Boy, she knew about how someone's mouth getting them in trouble.

"Yes, Lois, she confronted him, and threatened to inform the authorities about it, not the GCPD, but someone who actually would do something," Chloe said. "She was injected with the serum and apparently she was killed….only she wasn't, because she was turned into…"

"Poison Ivy," Clark and Kara said in unison.

"How did you know that?" Clark asked.

"How did you know that?" Kara asked.

"I asked you first," Clark said. Kara's eyes shifted and she shook her head. "Well, what one is it?"

"Well, I had a couple of friends in Gotham City, not from the Orphanage, but elsewhere," Kara said. "One of those friends…her father was a detective, and he was working on the Poison Ivy case all of those years ago…..she was trying to help me discover things regarding my past as well. She was the one that pointed me in the right direction to Smallville."

"You never told us any of this before?" Chloe asked in surprise.

Kara shrugged in response. "It really didn't come up before now, you know. It's just one of those things where you think about it later, but not now."

"Okay, fair enough," Clark said. He didn't really want to have this argument with his cousin right now. "So, this Poison Ivy….she's dangerous?"

"She lives up to her namesake, and Woodrue was her first kill, which could be karma in it's own twisted way," Chloe said. She flipped through the documents on the computer. "But that was just the beginning for her. She had to be put down. She was put into Arkham Asylum."

"Don't the people that to into Arkham come out much worse?" Lois asked.

"Well, it's not exactly a place with its most stirring reputation," Chloe answered. Kara snorted in response. "Am I putting that mildly?"

"Yes, you're putting it just a bit mildly," Kara confirmed for Chloe. She shifted her fingers together and frowned. "I thought that she was still in Arkham."

"There was a transfer authorized for her about two years ago, but no one says who authorized it," Chloe said. She was trying to get in touch with a contact from Gotham City, but it was becoming rather hard for her to do so. "And, there is some woman…..oh of course it's classified, do you really think that I would trying to poke around if it isn't?"

"Okay, Chloe, keep your skirt on," Lois said. She sounded extremely bemused at her cousin's attitude. Chloe responded by giving her the side long look and Lois shook her head. "Everything is going to be okay."

"If you say so," Chloe said. She kept hacking through the information. She found a personal insult to her abilities as a hacker not to be able to find the information in question. She chewed down on her lip. "Okay, here we go…the name is Waller."

That caused Lois's interest to be piqued rather hard. "Waller, did you say?"

"Yes, I said Waller," Chloe confirmed. "Does that name ring a bell?"

"Yeah, it really does," Lois said. "My Dad's boss is some woman named Waller….she redefines the term large and in charge."

"So, you're saying….." Clark said.

"I think that she's saying that our Miss Waller is more than a handful if you catch my drift," Chloe said. She smiled when she was trying to dig up more information on their mystery woman. "Do you think that you could find out anything more about Waller?"

"Well, I don't know about that," Lois suggested. She gave her best frowny face emotion when she thought about it. "I mean, my father….well my father doesn't speak that loudly about classified information when I'm in hearing distance. So I don't know how well I'm going to do."

She realized that she should be more useful than she really was. Lois frowned when she figured it out.

"Maybe I could look around and see what I could find," Lois said.

"Be careful Lois," Chloe warned her.

Lois responded by placing her hands on her hips and looking her cousin dead on in the eyes. "Hey, you know that careful is my middle name."

"Kara, maybe you should go with her," Clark suggested. Kara frowned. "You know, just to be better safe than sorry."

"Fine, if you don't trust me," Lois said. Come to think of it, she could use the back up. She knew that Kara was pretty quick.

"And more plants have been seen in Smallville," Chloe said. She punched up the news reports. "It seems like someone is really trying to get your attention."

"That might be the problem, "Clark said. He was ready for her, whoever she was.

"Are you sure it's a good idea that you go out alone?" Lana asked. Clark turned towards her and Lana responded by crossing her arms. "I mean, sure you've been doing this alone for a very long time, but that's really not the point."

"I've got this, trust me," Clark answered. He reached forward and pulled Lana into a kiss. "Trust me, I'll be careful."

"You better," Lana murmured when she watched him go off faster than a speeding bullet. She turned to Lori. "so…."

"Trust him, I guess," Lori said, shrugging her shoulders in response.

* * *

Clark wondered if he was in the right place. He had to be, he was outside of a greenhouse and he was nearly inside.

The vines close to him began to move on their own accord. At least until his gaze met the vines and they stopped moving.

He didn't want to say that this was eerie, but it was just a little bit eerie. Never the less, he crossed through the doors into the greenhouse.

There was a musical quality in this place. He felt extremely light headed when he entered inside. Clark closed his eyes for a few seconds and breathed in and breathed out.

"Don't deny it," a soft, sultry voice said. It sounded like music and guided Clark over. "Don't deny it, just feel it, feel it, it feels just right, doesn't it?"

Clark inched over a little bit more. Yes, it felt just right, that was honestly the problem. It felt too right. He felt like he was being guided over by something.

"Do not be alarmed, I won't bite you," she said softly. "Unless you want me to."

Clark stepped forward. He moved the vines over and he saw her sitting there. Her red hair beautifully framed her face with a gorgeous curtain. She looked absolutely stunning beyond all belief. Clark stood before her, his mouth slightly open when he approached her.

"Yes, even a strong man, even a super man, cannot escape me," she said. "I was Pamela Lillian Isley and in some ways, deep down, I still might be. But I've become something else, I've become someone else. I've become Poison Ivy."

She reached towards him and placed her hand on his bicep. She approvingly ran her fingers down his arm and looked at him. "Yes, I can see why they wanted you…why anyone would want you. For a human, you aren't too bad of a specimen."

"Pamela…."

"Call me Poison Ivy, that's what I've become," Pamela said. She smiled. "Pretty to look at, but deadly to touch if you're allergic to me. The question is, are you?"

She lifted her hand and blew the dust directly in Clark's face. He shook his head when he could feel himself ensnared by her.

He held his head up and he wondered what the hell got over him. He could see her, the most gorgeous creature ever.

"So, are you going to do anything that I want, handsome?" Ivy asked. She raked her fingers gently against his arm. "Are you going to come with me? Or maybe for me?"

She smiled when she waited for the obedience that came with having men underneath her thrall. She saw a red glow in his eyes. Obvious signs that he was underneath her control, so she paid it no mind.

"No," he said. "Do you realize who I am?"

"I beg your pardon," Pamela said. She was shocked. She never heard a man say no to her. "I don't think you understand who I am."

"Oh, I understand who you are perfectly, Pam," Clark said. He could feel something over him. "Wrapped inside all of that bluster, you are a scared little girl. You might think that you're dominant, but you're just a timid girl, who is submissive. Waiting to see if someone will take you in hand, to give you everything that your mind craves, because that's what you really want, isn't it?"

Pamela wondered what the hell went wrong. Did those red rocks warp his mind. He grabbed her hands.

"I demand you let go of me," Pamela said. "Oh, that's it you're going to take me against my will, isn't it? Some super freak who wants to get his rocks off….."

"You got off on controlling men," Clark said. "What's the matter, can't handle the heat, Pammy?"

"Don't…don't call me that," Pamela said.

"I'm not going to take you unwillingly," Clark told her. "In fact, you're very willing right now. Subconsciously, you want this, don't you. Don't you, you dirty little girl?"

"I don't….you're lying," Pamela said. She could feel something wrap around her wrists and her legs, holding her spread eagled. The material covering her crotch was going to give way.

"Am I lying?" Clark asked. He grinned in response when he closed the gap in between of the two of them. "I think that you're the one who is holding yourself into place, to be violated by your own powers. That's not me, that's you."

She couldn't believe this. Her body slowly succumbed to the desire and the basic human need thought that she forsaken.

"Now, are you ready to begin?"

* * *

Clark was down on the ground and his eyes slowly opened. He was groggy and he shook his head.

"That was wonderful," Pamela Isley whispered. She was secured and had nowhere to go. Clark could have sprinted her out of here easily. "We should do that again sometime, lover."

Clark was confused. "Do what again?"

"You know what you did," Pamela said. She would have moved, but her muscles were too sore after the going over he gave her.

He didn't know and Clark wondered if he had lost his mind. Actually, it was likely that he did. He realized that he had sex with Poison Ivy and didn't remember a second of it. He didn' tknow whether to be horrified or disappointed.

He stepped over and noticed a vial of dust like the one she blew in his face. It was the last one he remembered. Clark found his clothes hanging from the vines and put them on. He had some work to do to figure out what the hell just happened, that much was for sure.

One would think he would remember something so memorable.

* * *

"I'm not sure if they would leave an extremely important file out in the open," Lois muttered when she looked around with a flashlight. "Or really, anything…and I'm not even sure if it's a good idea for you to be here, Kara."

"And like it's the best idea for you to be here, Lois?" Kara asked.

Lois opened her mouth and shut it instantly. She shook her head, no it wasn't the best idea she was here.

Kara noticed there was a filing cabinet that was ajar. Her X-Ray vision allowed her to see through it.

"Stand back," Kara told Lois. Lois blinked and did as she was asked. Kara grabbed onto the cabinet and yanked it out of the way.

They made their way into what amounted to a secret office. There was a set of filing cabinets with the word "CADMUS" on them. And there was a file about the mysterious Blur that sat on the desk and was growing.

Kara picked up the file and sped read through it. She sped red through some of the information, grabbed Lois, and sped her out of there.

"Okay, do you mind filling me in with what you've read?" Lois asked.

"Nothing good, they want to create an army of meta-humans to use as an army to take down the enemies of the United States and anyone within the country that doesn't fit their agenda," Kara said. "And they want my cousin to lead them."

Lois whistled. "Yeah, not good."

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen: Side Effects.**

* * *

Clark made sure that Pamela Isley was secure. He was not himself lately, and in fact, he was not himself over the last couple of hours. He was not going to beat himself up with what happened, but he did want to figure out why it happened and more importantly, if he could ever prevent it from happening again.

"Retracing your steps seems to be the ideal and logical way to try and determine what happened, Kal-El," Jor-El said.

"Yes, it does," Lara said. Her husband might be stoic and motivated by logic, but there were many instances when he was right. And when he was right, he was really right. "Kal-El, is there anything that you can think of, anything at all, that might have pointed to what happened?"

"The moment she blew the dust in my face everything went blank," Clark admitted. He couldn't even begin to say how frustrated he was. The right answer to that question was he was very frustrated.

"Everything was a total blank?" Jor-El asked him in surprise.

"Yes, everything was a total blank," he confirmed. He didn't know why it was that hard to wrap someone's head around that kind of logic, other than it was. "I don't even know what to do now."

"Think back and focus, focus as hard as you can, my son," Jor-El said in his usual calm and stoic manner. "Just recall what you can."

"I did have the sample of the dust she had, it was mixed up in a vial," Clark said. He didn't remember what happened, completely and that fact was bothering him beyond all belief. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

The only problem was there was still a voice inside his head, his more primal Kryptonian side.

"Yes, that's a start," Lara said. "Place the sample down and I'll analyze it. Be careful not to inhale it."

"I know," Clark said. He remembered what happened last time he inhaled a substance like that and it wasn't pleasant at all. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Yes, this will have to do," Lara said. She scanned over it. "There are certain elements found in these pheromones that are common to those found within the core of Krypton."

"So, the very core of the planet could affect me?" Clark asked. This was news to him. "I ran into some green rocks a while back, they made me extremely ill, I could barely move, thankfully I was able to get home, and when I got out of range, I felt better."

"This would have been information that would have been useful for us to know, Kal-El," Jor-El responded, giving his son an extremely stern reprimand in the process.

"Jor-El, our son might not have known about the consequences of what these rocks are, and he did have other things on his mind," Lara said. She was almost patient, to the point of sainthood with her husband, but she had her limits. "Depending on the chemical reactions regarding the rocks, different pieces of….Kryptonite, for lack of a better term could cause different reactions."

"The green makes me sick," Clark admitted. "And these particles were red….so the red….."

"Changes you into an entirely different person," Lara said. "I have to say that I'm concerned regarding what happened. It also amplified the Alpha effect."

"Thankfully it wasn't a civilian," Clark said.

"And thankfully she was willing to indulge you," Lara said. "I just hope that whoever sent her doesn't learn of your allergic reaction to the pieces of our planet."

Clark hoped that fact as well. He felt a little dizzy. There were a couple of flashes which came back to him, but overall he felt like he was running around in circles without a rhyme, reason, or place to go.

"Yes, I suppose that I was lucky," Clark admitted. "Extremely lucky."

"Luck, seldom has anything to do with it," Lara informed her son. "The circumstances were correct and brought you where you needed to be, within a sufficient amount of time."

Clark shook his head. He felt like his head spun and likely it was spinning.

"We are in the process of creating a shield for your usage that will block out the forms of radiation that altered your physical and mental biology," Jor-El said. "Be forewarned though, there might be over forms of this Kryptonite out there."

"I'm certain that our son will take every step necessary to be the best he can be," Lara said. "And perhaps you could talk to our guest, to see if she'll speak."

Clark moved over to the containment cell which contained Poison Ivy. She looked at him, with a frown.

"No plants in the Arctic," she said. "That's where we are, isn't it?"

Clark didn't confirm nor deny anything. He stood calmly in front of her. Pamela whistled in response.

"So, you don't remember a moment of that, do you?" Pamela asked him. She looked at him and blinked. "I'm not sure whether or not I should be insulted or not because of that. Normally it's the woman who wants to forget all of the sex because of how bad it was."

"It was the pheromones you used….you mixed something into them, that caused me to forget who I was," Clark said.

"So, the red meteor rocks….so that's what they did, that's fascinating," Pamela said. She leaned against the wall of the cells. "You know, a few potted plants, and you'd really spruce the place up, really will get away from the dismal Arctic feeling you have."

"You're in serious trouble," Clark informed her.

"Welcome to my life, if it's not some Bat, it's some shady government agency that's trying to mess with me," Pamela said. "They let me here to rot…I noticed. But that's what they do, we're all assets. And they have their eyes on you as their newest asset."

"I can help you, if you help me," Clark said. "Who are you working for?"

"The woman's name is Amanda Waller, and she's got connections in high places, not to mention low places," Pamela answered. She brushed her finger through her hair and looked on. "And the people she's being backed with, they come from money. Big money, and likely dirty money. Someone wants his hands on a meta human army as his own private security force. Waller's just as much as a pawn as I am."

Clark really had a lot to think of. He didn't know what to do with the dangerous, if not quite lovely, Miss Isley.

"Just think of what the two of us could do together, we can bring them down," Pamela said. "We can bring forth a new world order. We can bring life back to mother Earth."

"And how many people would suffer in the process?" Clark asked.

Pamela didn't say anything. This wasn't a man she was talking to, this was a god, and someone who could crush her. It both scared and excited her that he could utilize his powers to such an extent. When the little kid's gloves were off, he was something remarkable and something extremely terrifying.

He left almost as quickly as he arrived and that left Pamela in the dust to continue to contemplate her fate.

* * *

"So, how much trouble did you get into?" Chloe asked Lois, when she and Kara returned.

"Oh, there we go, jumping to the conclusion that I got into trouble," Lois said. She threw her hands up. Kara raised her eyebrow, but wisely said nothing. "No comment there Supergirl."

"Supergirl?" Kara asked. She wondered how exactly tacky they could get. She wasn't certain she was a fan of such a name or not.

"Sure, you're super, you're a girl, and Clark is Superboy," Lois said. "And in a few years, he'll be Superman….not that he isn't quite a man now….and don't tell him that I said that."

Chloe saw Clark standing in the doorway looking amused. She barely was able to keep a straight face. "Don't worry, Lois, your secret is safe with me."

Lois recognized the look on her cousin's face. She really did have an inability to lie. Lois was mulling things over in her mind and it slowly came to her. "He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

"Yup," Chloe said.

Lois turned around and saw Clark right there. She managed to keep her cool and drop her hands down on her hips. "How long have you been there anyway?"

"Long enough," Clark said.

"That doesn't answer my question," Lois said. She shook her head. "Did you deal with our flower child?"

"I dealt with her, yes," Clark said.

Lois was putting two and two together. Or perhaps it was her dirty imagination going away with herself at the worst possible times. That was really the case way too often.

"I see," Lois murmured. She shook her head. "I see."

"What do you see? "Clark asked her, almost teasingly.

"Oh, nothing, just nothing Smallville," Lois said. "But we've got a little bit of a problem."

Clark raised his eyebrow and Lois hastily amended what she was saying. "And by a little bit of a problem, I mean a really big problem. A really big problem, that could turn into a really bad problem if we push things too far."

Kara decided to be the one to jump on in and explain. "We looked into the base of that Waller woman. It seems like she's collecting information on you, and you're not the only one."

"She wants an army of meta humans?" Chloe asked. She shook her head. "And people wonder why no one trusts the government."

"She's getting backing from somewhere," Clark said.

"Well think about it, Clark, she's getting government backing from somewhere, and it has to be from big business," Chloe said. She pondered that. "It could be one guy, or multiple companies. It really depends on how many pies Waller wants her fingers into."

Lois scoffed. "Looks to me that a woman like that should lay off on the pies."

That caused Kara to descend into a fit of giggles, until Clark looked at her. Kara softened up and shook her head.

"Waller is a pawn, Pamela Isley pretty much said as much," Clark said.

"And you're going to be believe the eco-terrorist who tried to date rape you before you turned the tables why?" Chloe asked.

"I'm not sure I'd put it that way, but it does make perfect sense," Clark said.

"Yeah, someone who could control plants, I'm wondering why they would be let to get away," Lois said. She frowned and it was coming to her slowly. "Unless, they're trying to use her to capture the bigger fish. And given what you can do, the biggest fish is you."

"I'm an urban legend," Clark said.

"So is Batman, but that doesn't stop half of Gotham City from shitting their pants whenever his name is whispered," Lois said without missing a beat.

Chloe got a call.

"Lana roped me into doing this….well, not necessarily roped me in, I still have to do it for the Torch, but it's one of those rah-rah sports things, that promotes school spirit and all of that," Chloe said.

"Oh, I feel your pain," Lois said with a grimace.

"It won't be that bad….I'll talk to you all later," Chloe said. She stopped and gave Clark a brief kiss. "The three of you try and stay out of trouble, okay?"

Lois scoffed and shook her head. "Try and stay out of trouble, she's worse than my father sometimes. And my father can be pretty bad. Of course, when Lucy does something wrong, it's somehow my fault…."

"I'd like to meet Lucy, sometime," Clark said. "I'm pretty sure that she's not as half as bad as you're making out."

"No, she isn't, worse actually, downplaying it," Lois said. She handed him the folder. "Maybe you can figure out what she's doing."

"Maybe I should just find Waller and ask her directly," Clark said. That caused Lois to stand up straight. The look on her face was beyond priceless. "Was it something that I said?"

"Yeah, it was something you said, or rather you saying something stupid," Lois said. She shook her head when she looked Clark in the eye. "Okay, I'm the last person in the world who has any leg to stand up regarding stupidity, but at the same time, you might be taking the cake. Going after the woman that wants to make you into a super soldier."

Lois shook her head. She was conflicted. Kara was watching Lois and then watching Clark. Her gaze shifted from one person to the other like she was watching a glorified ping-pong match. She settled down onto the couch to watch the show.

"Granted, that might get them to back off, and keep in mind I stress might," Lois said. "If Waller's the type of woman that I think she is, she isn't going to take no for an answer. And the person or people who might be funding her really isn't going to take no for an answer."

"Okay, I've got the point," Clark said. Lois had a really interesting way of putting things in perspective.

"If you're going to do something reckless, don't get yourself killed," Lois said. "That's always the important thing….and I've come way too close to failing at that more often than not."

* * *

"Well, it wasn't pretty, but it's done," Chloe said. She looked over the design. "I don't even know why I get sucked into things like this."

"Hey, I'm sucked into it just as much," Lana said. "It was one of the great responsibilities where the great cheerleader power comes from or something like that. And I'm sure that the administration will love the fact that you're investigating that people are covering up the academic failures of their star athletes."

"Hey, people should know the truth that the rules only apply to people who aren't star athletes, "Chloe said. "What's the worst that could happen to me? They know I'm friends with Clark. Granted, they don't know Clark's special skills, but he looks imposing. And Kara looks tall. And if Diana ever decides to join us, she has that Amazon thing going on."

"Likely because she is an Amazon," Lana confirmed.

"Yeah, likely because she is an Amazon," Chloe agreed. She leaned back and took a few more notes. "I feel bad for the people who bust their ass to be good athletes and get good grades…they deserve to know this more than anyone."

"It's a real kiss ass society," Lana admitted. She frowned when she looked around. "That's odd."

"What's odd?" Chloe asked.

"A couple of men in black suits have been circling around the mall for a long time," Lana said. She frowned and she said the obvious statement. "I hate to say that something's up, but something really is up."

"Now, Lana, you can't be paranoid like that," Chloe said.

"Not paranoid, just careful," Lana replied. She could see that they were looking at them discreetly. "And I think that it's time for us to get home."

Chloe and Lana got up, and the men in the black suits were following them. The more Chloe walked, the more she realized that something really bad was up. The question was what and the bigger question was why?

There was a large security guard who blocked their exit from the mall.

"Sorry for the hold up, but there has been a lot of shoplifting in this area," the security guard said. "We need to make sure that you don't have anything that you shouldn't. Once we check, you'll be on your way."

"We really need to get home now….I promised my aunt that I would fix dinner," Lana said. Which wasn't a lie, a complete one at least.

The men in the black suits made their way behind them.

"We have been looking for these two for a long time," one of the men commented. The security guard looked up. "These two ladies are master thieves, don't let them deceive you."

"What?" Lana asked.

"We're from the United States government, and they received powers from the meteor shower and have used their talents for their own sticky five finger discount," the man in black responded. He stepped forward. "No need to wait around, we can take it from here."

The security guard frowned. His eyes raked over the men in question and he looked slightly suspicious. "I'm going to need some proof of identification if you are who you say that you really are."

"Here's all of the proof you need," the man in black said and he pulled out a real badge of identification.

"This is a mistake," Chloe said. She could feel something jammed in her ribs and she was shocked. She dropped down to the ground.

Lana tried to struggle, but one of them grabbed her in a chokehold. "It will be all over, Miss Lang, when we have who we want in custody."

Lana didn't like the sounds of that, but she didn't have any choice in the matter. She slumped down to the ground like she was dead weight. The breath was knocked out of her lungs as she deflated down to the ground.

A dark haired female stood from the shadows. She witnessed the two government goons nab the two girls. She needed to get in touch with the Traveler sooner rather than later and warn him that Waller and her employer was onto him.

* * *

Kara was reclining on the couch at the Kent Farm. She hoped that Clark wasn't going to do what she thought that she was going to do.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this," Kara said. Clark raised her eyebrow. "But Waller…if she's the type of person we figure she is and what we've heard….she pretty much has all but figured out who you are."

Clark nodded in response to what his cousin said. Kara reached up and sat him down on the couch. She slowly slid against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"And if you get in her face, she'll prove it," Kara said. "And there's more than enough to worry about with the person that's backing her. If she loses her backing, she's not as dangerous."

"But, I don't know who is backing her," Clark said. "I think that she's the only person who can tell me that."

Kara gave a frustrated sigh. "Do whatever you want, Kal….I know that if you're anything like your father, once you get an idea in your head, it's hard to get it out."

Clark wanted to ask something to Kara. "So you were in Gotham City?"

Kara was completely caught off guard and she smiled. "Yeah, when I was trying to…figure out who I am, you know that."

"Gotham City, it can be a pretty dangerous place," Clark said.

"Saying something given that Smallville isn't exactly safe and secure," Kara said. She sounded like she was half teasing and half serious. It was hard to say where she was going when she spoke. She reached towards Clark and laid her hand on his. "I had some good friends there….maybe I should get in touch with them….Helena was rather helpful."

"Helena?" Clark asked. "As in Helena Wayne the daughter of….."

"Bruce Wayne, the eccentric billionaire," Kara said, shaking her head. "He suffered an accident years ago that pretty much left him walking with a cane. I don't know what a billionaire playboy could do to hurt himself that badly."

Clark didn't really pay too much mind to what was going on in Gotham City. He leaned back.

His phone rang. It was rather late for a phone call. He about didn't pick it up, but the phone kept ringing and ringing.

"Someone really must want to talk to you," Kara commented lightly.

"No kidding," Clark said. The phone must have rang fifty or sixty times. He finally decided to answer it. "You must really want to talk to me."

"Listen to be very carefully, Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan have been kidnapped by men working for Amanda Waller," a distorted voice said over the telephone. "Meet me outside of the Daily Planet headquarters in about twenty minutes, and I'll tell you what you need to know."

Clark thought that this was an extremely bad prank call. "Look, if this is a joke, it isn't funny."

"Meet me there in twenty minutes, and you'll know everything," the distorted voice over the phone continued. "We don't have much time….I know you can make it in less. Bring any back up you think that you need."

Clark hung up the phone and turned to Kara, explaining the nature of the conversation. She smiled.

"Well, it looks like you have the best backup possible," she admitted. "Let's go."

Clark wondered, what if this was a trap? He paused and wondered something else.

What if it wasn't?

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen: The Huntress Hunts Part One. **

* * *

Clark wondered if he should get the word gullible stamped on his forehead. He just took some random person at their word that Lana and Chloe were kidnapped straight away. Thankfully, he remembered that he had a brain and it might be a prudent idea to use it every now and again. He called both of their cell phones and there was no answer.

He wondered if there was some spoke to these fires. There was someone who seemed to know how to get in touch with him, and he wanted to know why if anything else.

Kara stood in front of Clark, almost as if she was protecting him. Clark placed his hand on her shoulder and did his best to ease up the tension.

"It really would be bad if she didn't show up," Kara said. The cool gust of wind caused her to tense up. The good news was they had super powers, so they wouldn't be really effected by the weather, at least that's what their hope was.

Clark looked around. He was almost looking for a group of government goons to jump out of the shadows. He had this sense someone was watching him.

"I had to make sure that no one followed you. They didn't. You were very fortunate."

Three extremely clipped statements brought Clark to the attention of a figure that stood in the shadows. She walked forward and made several sweeping motions with her feet. Her top was black and purple and clung to her body. She wore what appeared to be a cape clicked to her neck and a black domino mask that covered her. She wore a pair of eye catching leather pants that most normally caught Clark's attention and Kara's attention as well. Attached the belt was several gadgets.

"So, you're the one that called me," Clark said. He stepped forward towards her and frowned.

The woman looked at Kara. There was a hint of recognition in her eyes, but she shook her head in response.

"Yes, I called you, I told you that Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan have been captured, in an attempt to lead you to Amanda Waller and Cadmus," the woman said. "I had been trying to look into Cadmus for a long time and what I've found is very troubling."

Kara didn't like this vague answer, so she spoke up. "Define troubling."

"By troubling I mean there is someone with a grander agenda than Waller's pulling the strings," the mysterious woman said. She put her hand on her hip and seriously look at the two of them.

"Who do you think that it is?" Kara asked.

"I have my suspicions, but I'm hoping to find proof," she said. "But that doesn't matter as well, your girlfriends are in serious danger and they'll be made to disappear."

"Why didn't you do anything if you knew they were being kidnapped?" Clark asked.

"Clark, I think that we can trust her," Kara said. She had a sense of who this person was, but she wasn't sure about it. She just trusted her gut.

"I'm not sure about that," Clark said. "She's never even given us her name now."

"It's a fair question," the woman added. "I was trailing some of Waller's men….only to find them pulling a scheme and capturing Chloe and Lana. There was some shoplifters in the area, so they took advantage of that and pegged them as master thieves. The guard didn't question them."

Clark didn't really say anything.

"The Cadmus headquarters is well made, there's no way that you're going to be able to get inside easily," the woman said to her. "They already have meta humans at the base, some of them willingly working for Cadmus, some for freedom and some because they get paid for it. And others aren't so willing, but they want to take their frustrations out on anyone that gets in their way."

"Very dangerous then," Clark said.

"Yes, extremely dangerous," she agreed. She was looking him dead on in the eye. She looked extremely serious when she spoke. "I don't even need to tell you that you need to be careful."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful," Clark responded. He wasn't the type to be lectured by some stranger. "I don't suppose you have any ideas exactly where they'll being held."

The mysterious woman frowned and she only said one thing. Clark wasn't certain that it settled him enough. "I'm working on it."

Clark hated such a vague answer. The woman repelled down from the rooftop where they were. Clark wasn't going to let her get away.

The woman stopped and she saw Clark standing in front of her with super speed. She corked her eyebrow and offered him an agitated glance. "Well, you're pretty persistent, aren't you?"

"You should know that I am," Clark said. "You seem to know everything about me, and I don't know anything about you…..how did you find my phone number?"

"The Internet is an amazing resource," the woman said. There was a hint of amusement in her tone. "There's not really any sort of thing like an unlisted phone number anymore, despite what many people assume."

"Yes, that's nice," Clark said. "But who are…."

"Call me the Huntress," she told him.

Clark looked at her with a smile on his face. "Guess, I'm not going to get any kind of real name."

"You haven't quite earned my trust yet," she said. "And yes, I haven't earned yours as well…but I will. Know this, we do have a common goal and Waller needs to be put down before she causes problems for everyone."

That was one thing that Clark had to agree on. Waller, or to be more accurate, the benefactor she was working with. It looked like Clark was about ready to do the one thing that he really shouldn't do and that was head to go face to face with Amanda Waller.

"If we're going to earn our trust, then maybe we should work together," Kara said. She was glad that the two of them didn't get into it.

"Yes, Kara, I would have to agree," the Huntress said and she turned around.

"Did the two of you meet?" Clark asked. He raised his eyebrow.

"We might have," Kara said. She had her suspicions, but she wasn't going to say who.

Clark was beginning to put two and two together. Someone had to be pretty well off to be able to afford all of those nice toys. Despite the fact she was less than upfront of who she was, Clark was beginning to see the light clearly, at least more now than ever before.

"So, what do you think we should do, next?" Clark asked her.

The Huntress stood calmly and finally answered. "I have a friend who could help us out."

* * *

Chloe wondered what the hell was going on. She thought that she had all of the answers, but every single time she thought that she had all of the answers, there were a lot of people who changed pretty much all of the questions.

She rose to her feet and rapped on the door hard. Lana leaned back and shook her head. "I tried that for about an hour, and all I got was some really raw knuckles. No one is going to answer the door, I hate to tell you that."

"Well maybe I just need to knock harder," Chloe said through gritted teeth. She did pretty much as she said, knocking harder. "You know, you can't hold us here, not without any proof of what you did!"

"Something tells me that due process is the last of their worries," Lana said. "I really wish that we had some way to contact Clark."

Chloe realized something. She hushed Lana up. She half expected that this room was bugged and someone was going to come out and attack them.

There were footsteps down the hallway. Chloe honestly hoped that it wasn't a firing squad. She crossed her fingers and waited for the other shoe to drop.

The door creaked open and a rather imposing guard looked at her. Chloe tried to get around him, but he grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her down.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Chloe yelled.

"You two are accessories to a really dangerous person and are in enough trouble," the guard said in a gruff voice.

"I'm sure there's been a mistake," Lana said.

"We are not mistaken, Miss Lang."

A large, imposing black woman turned up. Lana blinked when she showed up. She was the type of person that no matter what the circumstances were, she would be noticed in a crowd.

"Who are you?" Chloe asked.

"Don't insult my intelligence Miss Sullivan, and I will not insult yours," the woman said. "But, my name is Amanda Waller and I need to ask you a few questions."

"Questions, questions about what?" Chloe asked, shaking her head in response.

Waller frowned. "You've lived in Smallville for the past three years, and you've noticed some extremely interesting things, haven't you?"

"Yeah, interesting, that's one way to put it,' Chloe said. "But, I'm sure that you know all about it."

Waller stepped forward and sat down on a chair on the other side of Chloe. "Don't play games with me, Miss Sullivan, and I won't play games with you. I've read your blog and found it quite illuminating, especially considering you know more than you should about certain things."

"Hey, I do my homework," Chloe said with a shrug. "And I'm sure some would say that you know more about certain things than you should."

Waller frowned when she looked towards Chloe with an exceedingly disapproving look in her eyes. "Maybe, maybe not, but we're discussing you and your research, Miss Sullivan."

Chloe could tell that Lana seemed nervous. She put her hand on Lana's and had her relax.

"We all want what's best for the world, and some of the people infected by the meteors are very disturbed people," Waller continued. "You're standing in the midst of that territory. And there are people going to school with you, in your community, and perhaps close people who had to do with the meteors."

"Well, there were a lot of meteors," Lana answered, with a frown on her face. She shrugged in response.

"Yes, there were, Miss Lang," Waller concluded.

"And I'm sure that you've heard about some of the more colorful figures that were effected by them," Chloe continued. "But I just report on what's happening, it's more like a hobby, an obsession….I don't really know what to tell you about this."

"You know what I think?" Waller asked. She leaned forward and got directly in Chloe's face. "I think that you're hiding something, although I'm not sure what."

"Well, hope you figure it out, and I hope that you know that you've made an extremely big mistake, keeping ups here," Chloe said. She looked Waller dead in the eye. "My uncle…he's really high up…."

"Yes, I'm well aware that your uncle is General Samuel Lane," Waller responded. She looked at the paper. "He had some work in Smallville, and encountered a very peculiar individual."

Waller leaned forward and got in Chloe's face. Chloe backed up.

"You should learn about personal space," Chloe said. She paused and spoke. "M'am."

"What do you know about the Blur?" Waller asked her.

Chloe frowned. She was really going to choose her words carefully after a few seconds. She spoke with what she thought was a winning smile and a winning nod. "He runs pretty fast and he saves people. And you've given him a stupid codename, you can't forget about that."

"You know what I think," Waller said. "I think that you know who he is."

"Who says it's a he?" Chloe asked. Waller frowned. "I mean….I've never talked to him, have you."

"I see that you're going to be difficult," Waller responded. She turned around and walked from the room. "You and Miss Lang can discuss amongst yourselves if you're going to cooperate. Or you can wait for your mutual friend to pick you up, so I can talk to you personally."

Lana and Chloe tried to communicate without words. They were bait. That made them feel so used.

"I trust the two of you will talk amongst yourself and find out where your priorities should lie," Waller commented. She looked calm and casual. Chloe and Lane were almost baited, but the two women refused to take it all of the way.

Waller left the room, leaving the two girls sitting there.

"Don't say anything that might get us in trouble later," Chloe muttered to Lana.

"I'm pretty sure you trying to stir Waller up didn't help us any," Lana said. "You do realize that one way or another, something bad is going to happen."

Chloe nodded without saying any words. She was hoping for a way out of here.

"No air vent, nothing, not even a screwdriver," Chloe said. "Not that either of us could fit through an air vent….that works out so much better in the movies."

"Feels like our lives are something out of fiction," Lana said. "I can't believe that we got nabbed like that."

She didn't really say what she was thinking, but Lana did really wish that they had a super powerful signal watch or something tacky like that to summon Clark whenever they got in trouble. Lana didn't intend to find trouble, but it really did have an annoying possibility of finding them in Smallville.

Lana frowned when she leaned back. She really hoped that there would be some way to contact Clark and warn him that there was going to be problems. She was pretty much at a loss to what that was going to be.

"We tried everything," Chloe said. "And remember, they took my cell phone, and your cell phone as well."

"Guess we're just going to have to sit this one out and hope for the best," Lana said. She hated to be so hopeless.

She shook her head in response, with Chloe placing her hand on Lana. She wanted to comfort her, but at the same time, they were being watched. And that meant there was nothing, but trouble coming for them all.

'_Clark, hopefully you come out of this fine,' _Chloe thought, with a frown and a sigh.

* * *

The Huntress made her way outside of the front entrance of the lab. She frowned when she looked over. There was a pair of guards outside.

"Only two guards outside?" Clark asked.

"Don't worry about what you've seen," Kara remarked to him. "Worry about what you don't see."

Clark scanned the area around with his X-Ray vision. There was flash of several heat signatures. He couldn't really see them.

"I recognize one of them," Clark said when one stood out into the shadows. "I took him down….he tried to cause an Earthquake in Smallville."

"At least that's proof that Waller is trying to build an army," Kara said. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Huntress was gone. She frowned in response when she dropped down onto the ground. "And here we go."

Huntress was crouched down into the shadows. She placed something on the ground.

Helena reached her hand around and when one of the security guards stepped forward, she pressed a button.

There was a jolt of electricity which flowed through the ground and knocked the guard down. Huntress waved Clark and Kara down, when she took the guard's radio.

"That should buy us about twelve minutes, until they figure out something is amiss," Helena said. Clark turned around. "We need to move quickly."

The door was still locked and Helena placed a device on it. She was having her associate, Oracle, dig up a password. The only problem was that the passwords changed so regularly it was hard to get inside.

"Not to be upsetting, but we're really running out of time," Kara said. She thought that it was going to take about three minutes for them to get inside at this current rate.

"I know, but….Waller has figured out that someone was trying to break in and altered the system," the voice in the Huntress's ear said, after The Huntress relayed what Kara said. "But, you know how much I like a challenge and she just challenged me big time."

A green light emitted from the grid and it blew open the door. The Huntress slipped inside, with Clark and Kara following them. The trio was inside immediately. There was the footsteps of guards going away.

"Okay, you and Lois snuck in this place once before," Clark told her. Kara nodded.

"But we had Lois's fathers army credentials to get us inside," Kara reminded Clark. Clark sighed, he did recall that.

There was the thumping of footsteps. The Huntress guided Clark and Kara down a hallway. The three figures stood against the wall for several minutes, waiting to see if anyone would show up and cause any problems.

Much to their relief, there was nothing really bad that happened. It was nothing really bad which would cause them any kind of frustration as well.

Clark thought that he was running out of time. He made his way down the hallway, with Kara following him.

"You know, you could stand to be a little less impulsive," Kara said. Clark looked at her, giving her the eye, which caused Kara to place her hands upon her hips and sigh. "Yeah, I know, I'm about as upset as you are, but there's honestly no way that you can….."

"No, there isn't, no way," Clark said.

There was a thunderous smash and one of the shelves on the wall slid out. Clark and Kara stepped back. The Huntress finally caught up to them.

A large bruising figure made his way down the hallway and he looked at Clark with recognition on his face. "So, it's you, you're the one that put us in here, didn't you?"

The bruiser raised his hands and caused the ground to rock underneath him. "Don't you think that I haven't been laying away at night, imagining what I can do to you."

Clark wasn't in the mood to deal with some crazed meteor mutant. The man rocked the ground underneath him.

Clark got behind him and knocked him out with one fell shot. He dropped down onto the ground.

"Super powers with a glass jaw, that's the trick to some of these people, isn't it?" the Huntress asked.

An explosive playing card flew to the ground and exploded the ground beneath them, which caused them to scatter. That was new for Clark.

A lithe figure came up out of the ground and grabbed the Huntress by the ankle. The Huntress flipped over her head and landed on the ground, sticking an intense landing. The girl popped up on the ground with a tight body suit and the letter "10" on her costume. The man who threw the exploding playing card at them had an "Ace"

There was a rattle of metal that ripped off the walls. Clark grabbed the Huntress and pulled her out of the way to avoid being skewed by the metal. The two of them landed onto the ground with a thud.

Huntress lifted into her belt and pulled out a grenade. With expert precision, she lobbed it over her shoulder and caused it to land on the ground with a solid thud.

The grenade broke open and caused a gas to flow through the air.

"Where's the fire, why don't you chill out?" another individual asked. He launched a gusts of cold air down the hallway, combined with some kind of ice like powers.

"What the hell is going on?" Kara asked. She could feel a frigid chill fill her body and it was hard for her to stand up.

"Trouble is going on," Huntress commented. The man walked forward, dressed with the word "JACK" on his leg and he was followed by another man, an older man, who had a crown on his chest, with the word "King."

"We knew that you were coming here, Blur," a woman said in a posh voice when she stepped aside. She was dressed in a skin tight white body suit that formed tightly around her body. "I'm sure that you're looking to collect your friends, aren't you?"

Clark was about ready to take the woman, only her skin solidified into diamond. They were so hard that Clark couldn't hit her. She knocked him backwards like he was nothing.

"Predictable, and I didn't have to read your mind," she commented. "The Royal Flush Gang will bring you down, and we'll be rewarded with our freedom."

They were a family of four and their butler who had been experimented on by Cadmus and given powers. They were going to utilize those powers to make their escape.

There was no question about it, Clark had his back against the wall badly.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen: The Huntress Hunts Part Two.**

* * *

Ace of the Royal Flush Gang shuffled his cards and flung them at Clark. Clark dodged the attacks. He wasn't sure if the cards could pack a punch against him, but he wasn't going to wait around to find out.

Kara turned around and saw Ten pop out from behind the wall against her. She reached over and grabbed Ten, but Ten pulled Kara's hands through the wall and bounded them together. She popped up from the ground and used a miniature taser built into her glove to shock Kara, repeatedly. The Kryptonian female struggled to get out.

"I think you'll grow used to my magnetic personality!" The King declared. He raised his hands up into the air and sent several iron bars towards his enemy.

The Huntress dodged the attacks and threw a plastic grenade in the air. It caused an electrical pulse which knocked the King back. The King staggered and the Huntress fired a series of rapid fire kicks at her enemy. She jumped over the top of the King's head and spun him around, planting him down to the ground like he was nothing.

The King's wind was knocked completely out of him when he was doubled over. Helena aimed for the fences and slammed a series of rapid fire jabs at the King to double him over. The King was completely winded when he was bent over.

"Hey, no need to be so cold!" Jack said. He manipulated the ice particles in the air. "Time to put the freeze on you!"

Clark used his super breath to overpower Jack. Kara wrenched herself free from the wall and sent Ten flying at Jack.

The two siblings, or so he assumed, had a meeting of the minds. Both of them hit each other hard. Kara grabbed a set of rope that she found and she circled around them, binding her enemies up.

She knew that they wouldn't be held for long. In fact, Ten got herself out of the ropes straight away, shifting through the ground.

The female meteor mutant popped up, with Kara catching her by the hand. Ten sunk her feet through the ground and caused a board to flip up and nearly knock Kara in the face.

Kara had to just barely dodge the attack. The board was close to whacking her in the face. Way too close as far as she was concerned.

She realized that if Ten knocked herself out during the battle, she might stay unconscious.

"I've got a plan," Kara said.

"I hope that you do," Clark said. The metal bounced off of his skin.

He used his heat vision to heat up the metal. It appeared the King didn't have as much control for the liquefied metal as he did the solid things.

The Queen watched the battle. She tried to get inside the mind of him.

'_You're to cease this battle instantly,' _she thought strongly. She realized that his mind wasn't anything like she controlled.

She tried to force an illusion on him.

Huntress was glad that she was distracted by trying to tap into Clark's mind. It was easier for her to swoop in and do what she needed to do. The Huntress threw herself up into the air and landed one swift shot down onto the back of her enemies head.

There was a blast of energy that rocked her adversary. The Queen fell down to the ground.

The battle between Ten and Kara continued. Ten kept ducking and dodging underneath Kara's attacks.

'_Finally,' _Kara thought. She could see a large pipe through the floor. All she had to do was maneuver her adversary to the pipe and hopefully everything would work out beyond that.

"Just stand still," Ten said. She was starting to throw a fit like the teenage girl that she would. It seemed like that no matter what she did, Kara was about one step ahead of her and that caused Ten a grand amount of frustration.

Kara took a step to the side and Ten nearly went through the floor. Her head bounced up against the pipe, knocking her out.

It wouldn't be a long term fix for sure. Kara eased back and saw the downed figure that was Ten. There was a sizeable lump on her noggin from when she smashed into the pipe underneath the floor. Kara eased back when she looked down at Ten.

Huntress moved over towards one of the containment units. She found the code and opened it.

"It wasn't an accident the Royal Flush Gang was let out," Huntress said.

"Obvious," Clark responded. He couldn't resist needling her just a little bit. Her gaze met his and Clark knew that he said a bit too much, at least that's what his assumption was. Helena edged back and made sure they were completely in.

That part was out of the way. Huntress hacked the building database and decided to allow one more trick for her adversaries. She hoped that would be sufficient to take Waller off of the track. "Chloe and Lana are down the hallway, to your right….I trust you'll only need about six more minutes to get them out."

"What about Waller?" Clark asked.

Huntress nearly scoffed at the one track mind he had, but she didn't say nothing. "It'd be better off if I confronted Waller on my own."

Clark was about ready to protest. Kara urgently grabbed Clark by the shoulder and stalled him. He turned to the side and she mouthed one thing. "She's right….we should really get Chloe and Lana out of there."

Clark made his way over and the doors opened up. A surprised Lana and Chloe were inside.

"We need to get you out of here," Kara said.

Chloe didn't mince any words by giving them a proper warning. "The two of you realize that this is a trap, don't you?"

Neither of them said any word, rather they got Chloe and Lana and got the hell out of there. Clark wondered if he would see the Huntress again, or the person behind the mask.

Thankfully, by some sheer miracle, they got out of the government facility without further interest.

* * *

Amanda Waller wondered what the hell was going on tonight. Heads were going to roll if she didn't get the answers that she wanted and quickly. The woman pounded her hand down on the desk repeatedly.

"Someone, report!" Waller barked. There was no answer.

"I've cut all communications for the next five minutes. It should give us a proper amount of time to talk."

Waller turned around and she could see Helena standing there with one of those looks on her face. It was obvious Waller wasn't a happy camper for many reasons and the look she was given Huntress proved that fact.

"What do you want?" Waller asked.

"All of the information regarding the Blur and his sightings are being removed from the ARGUS systems," The Huntress said. "And unless you want to go public with the fact that you've been training human weapons, I suggest you back off."

"You really think that it's going to be that easy?" Waller asked. She sounded absolutely incensed. She was about ready to go under her desk and call for security.

"Disabled," the Huntress said. "Do you really think that I would be foolish enough to enter your office without taking the proper steps. I always come prepared, whether you like it or not."

"And do you honestly think that I'm going to allow you out of here?" Waller asked.

"You know who I am, you know the resources I have," the Huntress said. "You let this matter die, and I'm going to come after you with the full extent with the resources I have."

"Is that a threat?" Waller asked. She was trying to ensure that she had a proper amount of bark to go with her bite.

"It's not a threat," the Huntress said when she leaned closer to Waller. "It's a promise. The game is over and your little super soldier experiment is done. By all means, keep them in a prison, keep them away from people. But if you start weaponizing or think that the government has the right to powered people, you're wrong."

"You know how dangerous powerful people can be," Waller said. "The American people have a right to….."

"When that type of justification is used, the slope downhill is a quick and slippery one," Huntress said. She detonated an explosive charge in the filing cabinet, causing the hard copies of the information regarding the Blur to go up in smoke.

"One day, I'll have you arrested, "Waller said.

"Maybe, but are you willing to go with me?" Huntress asked. She pushed Waller back in the chair and put a crossbow near her chest. "I could do the world a favor and silence you. But I'm giving you a chance to do the right thing, like I know you're capable of doing."

Waller decided that a woman who was holding a weapon to her chest might be among the least qualified people who were going to tell her to do the right thing.

"I might stop, but my benefactors won't, they're the ones that are interested with our super powered friend, Mr. Kent," Waller said. "Give your father my regards and ask him what it was like to deal with a super powered person."

Huntress didn't say anything. She didn't need to be told that the benefactor, whoever that was, were not going to back off.

She disappeared into the night without another word. One could almost sense a slight amount of frustration in posture when she left.

Waller was about ready to do something, but she found herself hooked underneath the desk in a pair of handcuffs. She realized that was just how that entire family rolled.

She also saw the security camera feed flicker to life and realize that her two prisoners were gone. Legally speaking, she had nothing to hold Miss Lang and Miss Sullivan here with, but….that wasn't the point.

"Ms. Waller, we've had a breach, the two girls have escaped," one of the men said.

"Yes, Peters, I'm well aware of it," Waller responded through gritted teeth. She tried to remove the pair of handcuffs she had from underneath her desk. Only it was kind of difficult. "And they're already gone….find someone with tools to get me out of my office."

This might be one of the worst nights of Amanda Waller's night. It was about to get even worse.

"Five new meta-humans have just been found locked inside a containment cell, M'am," one of the individuals said when he turned up. Waller's eyes shifted when she noticed this person show up. "They've got the power dampeners on them, but they're not on the list."

Waller had another interesting question, regarding who sent meta-humans into her base. She suspected that was one thing that would be left a mystery for her.

* * *

Clark returned back home and sighed. He was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

An extremely frantic looking Lois showed up. She looked very testy ad for a good reason.

"I swear, I can't leave for five minutes without someone getting themselves into trouble," Lois said. She stepped forward and looked at Clark. "And you did what I told you not to do…but you did it for a good reason."

"Would you have done the same thing if you were in my position?" Clark asked. His tone was extremely calm.

Lois absolutely hated having that fact thrown back up in her face, but she had no choice, but to nod in confirmation. She would have done practically the same thing had the situation been reversed. And that honestly was the problem as far as she was concerned. She crossed her arms and peered into Clark's eyes. He responded with a winning smile.

"Chloe's alright isn't she?" Lois asked.

"Nothing happened to her," Clark said.

"Good," Lois said. "And I'm glad that she has someone like you watching out for her."

"You know that I would do the same thing for you, Lois," Clark confirmed. That caused Lois's lips to curl into a smile.

"You know, that's a deadly promise to make," Lois said. She stepped closer towards him, almost closing the gap that existed between the two of them. "You know that I get into a lot of trouble….more trouble than I should."

"But that's a part of your charm, isn't it?" Clark asked her.

Lois chuckled. Clark really did have a nature of saying the bluntest things in the calmest of ways. She shook her head.

They were inches away from Lois doing something daring. She paused, practically hesitated from sealing the deal with Clark. She was closer than she could ever dare, and closer than she ever would dare.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for her, Lois's phone went off, and she paused. She realized that it was a call from her father.

"You know how my father is, I better take this one, like right now," Lois said. She backed off rather casually.

Clark watched her leave for a moment and moved to the room where Chloe and Lana were sharing. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Clark opened up the door. Lana was sitting on the bed, dressed in a short black skirt and a black tank top. Her shoes and socks were kicked off. Chloe was wearing a tight white top and a jean skirt, without her socks.

"Hello, Clark," Lana said. She bounced up to her feet and threw herself at Clark, wrapping her arms around him.

Their lips met in an extremely passionate kiss. Clark held Lana in place and kissed her fiercely in response. Lana opened her mouth to accept Clark's passionate kiss from going into her mouth. Their tongues wrestled with a furious fury with each other.

"You know, I want a piece of him to," Chloe said. She folded her arms together.

Lana finally detached herself from Clark and pulled away from him. The two of them met each other.

Chloe could feel Clark's amazing lips work her over. She could feel his tongue work its way into her mouth.

"So, I guess that we caused you a lot of trouble tonight," Chloe answered. She frowned when she looked Clark dead on in the eye. "Loads of trouble, more trouble than we think that you should have to handle."

"It wasn't you, it was Waller, and her benefactor," Clark reminded them. "There wasn't really that much that they could do to it."

"If we hadn't been at the mall alone, none of this might have happened," Chloe said.

"Hey, I'll be the one who has the guilt around here about what happened," Clark said. He leaned forward. "And besides, if Waller wouldn't have gotten you there, she would have gotten you somewhere else."

Chloe shook her head. She hated to say that Clark was right, but he was in fact right. She was in one of her grumbling type of moods when she spoke.

"Why do you have to be right?" Chloe asked.

"We do really still feel bad about all of this, you know," Lana said. She grabbed her boyfriend by the hand and smiled. "And you know, that we'll do anything to make it up to you, anything."

Clark raised his eyebrow and leaned forward towards Chloe. "What exactly do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I've got a few ideas," Lana said. She practically straddled Clark when she moved over. She smiled when she ran her hands over the top of her shirt. With a grin, Lana leaned forward and kissed him with an intense amount of passion.

Eventually, Chloe got a bit tired of waiting for Lana to finish off. She waited extremely patiently and she pulled her to the side.

"My turn."

Chloe pushed her lips onto Clark's firmly and her lips planted onto his. He returned the passionate kiss in response.

Lana, deciding not to give in to any kind of boredom, reached forward between Clark and Chloe and started to rub Clark's crotch through his pants. She was pretty glad to see the reaction she was responding.

With deceptive strength and quickness, Lana removed his pants and decided to kick things into the next phase of her fun.

* * *

Clark smiled when he saw Chloe and Lana laid out on the bed. Both girls had been put through the paces quite nicely indeed and Clark was glad that they were.

He noticed someone who had been watching him outside of the door frame. She was trying to be conspicuous and while she would do a good job of it, had Clark not had super hearing, the fact of the matter was that he did have super hearing.

Clark peered over his shoulder and he normally wouldn't call anyone out on it. He casually got up to his feet to get dressed, which he mastered in a matter of seconds.

He reached over his shoulder and grabbed the wrist of the person who was standing outside the door. She gasped in response.

"Yes, Lois, did you need something?"

* * *

Every super hero had their secret lair. That was one thing that comic books had gotten full on. The Huntress worked out of the Gotham City clock tower in a secret basement. Her father's cave was extravagant, but she wanted to preserve it as a monument to him.

Besides, she was willing to do whatever it took to carve out her own identity. The dark haired woman approached a chair and punched up the information she needed.

She didn't just delete the information from Cadmus, she copied it onto a file and was looking it over.

A company like that was going to do a job in covering its tracks. She looked over and saw a red haired girl around her age, wearing glasses. She frowned when she leaned over the chair.

"It seems to be a tangled web that we have to unweave," she said.

Her name was Barbara Gordon. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, she wore glasses. She wore a tight black tank top, a jacket, and blue jeans that fit firmly around her body. She was casually chewing on a pen cap.

"Yes, with people like this, you can safely expect anything," the Huntress said.

Underneath the mask, she was the billionaire heiress, Helena Wayne. Her life was anything but conventional. Hell her parents met when her father tried to stop her mother from stealing jewelry. Things tended to get even more weirder from there.

The woman frowned, biting down on her lip. She showed more emotion than her father did in situations like this, that was for certain.

"Yes, we can expect that the benefactor is not going to be pleased with my interference," Huntress answered. She ran her fingers through the back of her hair and sighed. The mask rested on the dashboard of the computer. "There's a weird universal anamoly that Cadmus doesn't want anyone to know about…."

She frowned when she realized something. That part was missing. Someone around beat her to the punch and got the information that she was looking for. The plot was beginning to thicken and it was not really thickening in the best way.

She frowned in response when she tried to figure out where she wanted to go next.

"Someone deleted a vital piece of this file before I even got in there," Helena said.

"Maybe I can see if I can get through there," Barbara said. She rose up out of the seat and parked herself in front of the file.

This was a treasure trove of information to be honest. She would have to like to go through it, but unfortunately, she couldn't go through it all. All she had to do was pass through the information and find the missing link.

She bit down on her lip and frowned when she worked over.

"So, anything."

An extremely beautiful woman dressed in black leather made her way through the door. Her hair was tied back and the most interesting thing of her outfit was that she was wearing a pair of fishnet stockings that covered her legs and went all the way up her body.

"No, Dinah, there's nothing," Helena confirmed when she waved the woman over.

Dinah Laurel Lance, better known as the Black Canary, frowned. She hadn't been directly involved in this investigation as Helena and Barbara were.

"So, what are we doing now?" Dinah asked.

"We're going to find out who wanted both us and Cadmus not to look into some kind of dimensional anomaly so closely," Helena informed the. That caused both of the girls to give a gasp in surprise. "There's a reason, I'm almost certain of it."

She was going to get in touch with an old friend as Helena Wayne. All things considered, she thought that particular identity was more approachable than the Huntress was. But maybe it was just her.

Regardless of that fact, they pretty much fingered someone in LuthorCorp as responsible for this, but there was another partner. The question was who and why.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty: The Right Move.**

* * *

Clark wondered what Lois had wanted to talk about. Perhaps it was just his imagination after the last several weeks and some of the things that happened, but he assumed, perhaps foolishly, that she might have had a bit more than talking on her mind. At least he hoped so. He would find out for a moment.

Lois was looking at him. She could see that he put on some clothes pretty quick. She almost envied his ability to get dressed quickly, but then she realized that meant that he would get dressed about as quickly as well. That put certain thoughts in Lois's mind that stirred the fires in her mind.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you….we better go to my room," Lois said.

Clark raised his eyebrow. Subtle, Lois wasn't, at least that's what he assumed. Then again, you know what people said about assumptions. He followed Lois, admiring the way her ass fit into the tight skirt that she was wearing.

Lois hoped that he was staring at her when she walked. No girl wore a tight skirt unless they wanted their ass stared at by a guy they were trying to attract. Well, unless they were completely dense and lacked every single amount of self-awareness whatsoever.

She opened the door. "Excuse the mess…..I've only been here for a couple of days, and already, I've trashed the guest room."

"It gives the room personality, it gives it your own touch," Clark said.

"That's one way of putting it," Lois said. "If you were my father, you'd be asking if I was born in a barn."

Lois laughed, when Clark raised his eyebrow. She cleared off a spot for him on the bed and he sat down. She did the same. There were clothes and other things….she quickly stowed away an object that she used to relieve herself after a dream about Clark.

She really hoped that he didn't notice that particular object on the bed.

"So, I was thinking the other day, I was wondering where this leaves me when my father gets the okay to leave Smallville," Lois replied. "I mean…..I've just been led all over everywhere by my father. Wherever the mission, wherever his orders take him, he pretty much goes, without any question whatsoever. That can get pretty tiring after a while, you know."

"Yes, I can see how it might," Clark answered, with a smile to Lois. "The question is, what do you want to do?"

Lois answered with a shrug. "You know, I don't know, and that's what….well that's what frustrates me. I've never figured out what I want to do….until now."

That caused Clark to raise his eyebrow and he obviously offered Lois the opening to proceed. Striking whilst the iron was hot, Lois jumped in and she did very well proceed. Her chest raised and lowered when she spoke.

"I thought that I was dragged along on one of my father's crusades to a place that I hated, I was glad that Chloe lived here….never expected her to end up in a place like this either," Lois said. "When you consider some of the third world hellholes….and first world hellholes….never go to New Jersey, Smallville, word of advice. Especially anywhere near those douchebags on the shore."

"Dully noted," Clark answered dryly.

Lois shook her head in response. She had lost her train of thought. There were many times where it happened, where the train of thought got derailed for her before it could properly leave the station and she honestly hated it every single time that it happened. Clark grabbed her hand gently and Lois frowned, before she continued on.

She shook her head. "And I never thought I would grow sentimental about a place like this…..or any place. Can you believe that ever since my mother died, I hadn't had a stable address for more than three months?"

"That must have been rough," Clark said. He couldn't imagine how awful that would have been, given the fact that he lived in pretty much the same place his entire life.

"Yeah, it was, pretty rough," Lois said. She rose to her feet and looked Clark dead on in the eye. "But, you know, I'm a survivor, and I do what I can to survive….that's just the type of person that I am."

She frowned.

"And I've decided….what is the reason why I wanted to stay here, in Smallville?" Lois asked. "Is it Smallville the town or Smallville the….well you, Smallville?"

Clark frowned when he looked at her. "I'm afraid that I don't follow."

"Well….I guess that I can figure that out, because my father had to leave early…to track down my bothersome sister after she got herself in trouble with some really dangerous people," Lois said. She sighed when she left her tone hanging. "Again….sometimes I can't believe Lucy, but other times, I really can….she really is something else."

"Sisters normally are," Clark reminded her. "Not that I'd know."

Lois shook her head. "I guess that….well….I've been…..I've been doing a lot of thinking, I know, that's a pretty bad thing, normally, but I….well you know."

"Do tell?" Clark asked her. He smiled at her.

"Well, you know….." Lois said.

"You were wondering if it was possible for you and I to get together," Clark said. "You've been thinking about what it would be like to sleep with me, after seeing me in action."

"Well no," Lois said. "I had been thinking about what it would be like to have you ram me against the wall and fuck me until I can't stand."

She threw herself at him, before she could really change her mind. Lois rammed her tongue into Clark's mouth, straddling his lap. Her legs wrapped around him.

Clark returned the kiss. Lois suckled on his tongue and she felt herself pushed against the wall. Completely dazed, Clark ran his hands down, touching the area between her thighs.

His super powerful sense of smell inhaled her scent and that caused his arousal to increase.

"I think I can oblige your dreams, Miss Lane."

* * *

"I wish was there," Lori said. She was standing with Clark, Lana, Chloe, and Lois. The young Atlantean shook her head. She always seemed to miss all of the fun and she hated that much.

The girls and Clark were in one of the more upscale clubs in Metropolis. The scene was rocking and the joint was jumping. There was a loud round of music that blared all over the club. Lois seemed to be more at home here, but Lana and Chloe seemed to adapt rather well. Lori and Clark seemed to be the only two that were out of their element.

"You should have been there, I'm sure that Clark was more than ready to go to spoil another bitch," Lois said. That caused Lori's cheeks to redden when she shook her head. "So, you're really from Atlantis?"

"Yes, I know, people look at you weird, but it's real," Lori said. "The myths…well they're a bit exaggerated you know."

"Figured as much," Lois agreed. "Myths normally are though, aren't they?"

"Yeah, there have been some pretty weird ones," Lori said. She shook her head and smiled, when she leaned up against Clark. She was getting a better hold of walking on legs, but every now and then, her feet decided to betray her in the worst possible way.

Lori would just have to go with the flow.

"Yeah, that's really a shame that you weren't there," Lana said. "Clark would have been able to tap three girls with "LL" initials in one night….that seems to be some kind of recurring theme with him."

"In addition to the fact that he has a habit of attracting troublesome redheads," Chloe said. She looked at Lana with a wicked grin. "A tradition which started with you, I should note."

"Yeah, throwing my own logic out of me," Lana said. "So, is this a good drink?"

"Well, I say that it's pretty good…if you don't want to see straight by the end of the night," Lois informed her. Lana corked her eyebrow in response. "That isn't your intention, is it? Not to see straight by the end of night."

"Well, I have been through a rough time, you know," Lana informed Lois. Lois frowned and nodded in response. She could see where Lana came from for that one. "Those government goons….picking up myself and Chloe for no good reason."

"My father had nothing to do with that," Lois said.

"I know, that Waller cow said about as much," Lana said. She was obviously very cross about the situation.

"Still kind of curious about this entire meta human army thing," Chloe commented. Lois raised her eyebrow and sighed.

"Of course you would be, you wouldn't be you, if you weren't curious," Lois said. Chloe opened her mouth, and Lois cut her off before she made the obvious statement. "And Chloe, for the record, there is no need to tell me. If this isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what it is."

Chloe nodded. She made the initial sign of zipping her lips with her fingers. Clark looked at her, raising his eyebrow.

"You know, Chloe does have a fair question," Clark told her. Lois nodded.

"I'm not saying that she doesn't have a fair question," Lois said. "But, I'm just saying the last time that….well, I'm sure that you haven't seen the last of it."

Clark would have to agree with that. Hence the reason why he was looking around in an attempt to see if there were any men in black suits.

"You know, if you think that people are following you, you'll never get a wink of sleep," Lana suggested. Clark raised his eyebrow when he looked at Lana. She responded with a swift shrug. "I'm just saying."

"At the same time, just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean that they're not out to get you," Lois fired back. Lana shook her head at and shrugged. "You know what I mean?"

"All too well," Clark commented. He always kept his ear out for something.

"I think that we all need a drink after what happened," Chloe said. She paused and added, looking at Lori and Clark. "I'm not sure it would effect either of you…your biology might give you some tolerance."

"Oooh, a challenge," Lois said. Clark looked at Chloe, raising his eyebrow.

It was one of those looks. It was a very obvious "see what you started?" kind of look. Chloe shrugged, looking fairly sheepish in response, but she didn't say much of anything otherwise.

"Oh, I hate when she has that look on her face," Chloe said.

"You're not the only one," Clark told her.

Lois slapped her hands onto her hips. "I bet….I bet that I could get you drunk, Smallville."

"I bet you can't," Chloe said.

"Oh, you want to put some terms to that," Lois said. Lori and Lana scooted back carefully, when the two cousins stepped forward.

Clark didn't know what to make about this little altercation. He thought that it would be best to join Lana and Lori elsewhere.

"Whatcha got, Lois?" Chloe asked. She spoke in a fairly confrontational manner. It was obvious that she wasn't going to back down without a fight, because that's not how Chloe rolled at all.

"Well, I've been thinking," Lois responded. Chloe frowned. "And there's no comment needed, Chloe….how about if I can't get Smallville drunk by midnight…..you spend a week dressed as a cheerleader."

"Are you sure that this isn't a transparent exercise to get me in a short skirt?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I know how much you…detest cheerleaders," Lois said.

"Lana being the obvious except to that rule, yes," Chloe said. "And I don't detest them, they just seem a bit rude and snooty sometimes."

"I agree!" Lana piped up, which got a giggle from Lori.

"Well, fine, when Clark doesn't get drunk, what are you doing to do, Lois Lane?" Chloe asked.

"I'll….I'm going to win this bet," Lois said. She seemed a bit confident, but at the same time, she didn't seem too confident at all. It was a nice little nasty paradox all around.

"Are you going to put your mouth where your money is?" Chloe asked. "How about…you kiss your sister?"

"Wait, Lucy, the she-demon little sister from hell?" Lois asked. "You want me to kiss her….."

"On the lips, for at least ten seconds, maybe more," Chloe said. Lois blinked. "Because, I'm sick and tired of this sexual tension you two have been bottling up."

Lois looked at Chloe like she had grown an extra head. "I do not have sexual tension towards my fucking sister."

Chloe shrugged and grinned at Lois. It was obvious that she wasn't backing off on this claim.

"Fine, I play to win, you know that, don't you, Chloe?" Lois asked. "I'll win, and I'll see your cute little ass wearing a cheerleader uniform."

"Ha!" Chloe exclaimed in response. "I knew that you just wanted to see my ass in a cheerleader uniform….that's what your game is, isn't it, Lois Lane?"

Lois couldn't really deny that, but she sure as hell wasn't going to confirm it. Regardless, Lana turned to Clark and there was a look of mirth dancing through her eyes.

"So, is there any way that you're going to find a way to win or lose that bet at the same time?" Lana asked. "Or is that just some wishful thinking on my part?"

"I'm going to play the bet fair and square," Clark responded to her. That caused Lana's arms to fold underneath her chest and her lip to stick out in a pouty like expression.

"Sometimes, you're no fun at all, Clark Kent," Lana said. Clark grinned at her and leaned closer towards her.

"I can show you how fun I can be later," Clark informed her.

Lois turned towards the bartender. "Tell me, what is your strongest drink?"

Clark raised his eyebrow. He had to admire Lois, she was willing to go straight for the throat. He knew that there had been nothing that could cause him to get a buzz. Even those Ghost Peppers, they caused him to get a mild tingle in his mouth, but that was just the extent to it. There was nothing more, nothing less than that.

From the edge of the club, a beautiful redhead stood in the shadows. She was mostly hidden from the shadows. She was observing Clark Kent from a distant. Her employer was extremely interested in him.

Judging by how easy he was on the eyes, she was interested in him. A phone call indicated that she needed to close the deal in Gotham City, pulled her away.

At least for now, but they would be meeting again. That much she was confident of.

* * *

Kara Kent was in Gotham City. Why was she in Gotham City? That was a question that she mulled over her mind. She had been here a couple of times searching for answers when her state of mind was not the best. And by not the best, she couldn't remember who she was, or rather, why she was here?

Regardless, it was late in the evening, and not the best place for someone like her to be. She slipped inside a fairly upscale night club.

The good news is what that this night club was owned by the mob, therefore most criminals would stay away from it. The bad news was that it was owned by the mob and Kara had to reign herself in to stop herself from looking at any shady doings.

The dark haired female who showed up caused Kara's spirits to raise. She wasn't only, but Kara's focus was on her.

"It's good to see that you have your memories completely back," the woman commented when she approached Kara.

"Yes, it was good, I went through a tremendous journey to be able to reach that point," Kara answered. She recalled it, rubbing the side of the temple. "It is good to see you again Helena."

"Yes, I'm glad that you still remember who I am….even when you remembered who you are completely," Helena Wayne said. She reached forward and took the milkshake she ordered. She sipped on it casually. "And now you've found what you've looking for, I need to talk to you."

"Well, I know that it was you out there last night," Kara informed her. That caused Helena to cork her eyebrow in surprise. "And aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Helena looked at the beautiful blonde with her. She wore a tight black top, a black leather jacket, and tight blue jeans. She wore black leather boots and fingerless gloves to add to the biker look.

"This is Dinah Lance," Helena said, pointing out the blonde to Kara.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kara," Dinah said, extending her hand for Kara to shake.

"Yes, thank you," Kara replied.

"And I'm Barbara Gordon," the redhead said. An attractive redhead that was dressed like a cute librarian, complete with glasses was there.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, Dinah, Barbara," Kara said, shaking both of their hands. "So, where did you meet Helena?"

"Well my father and Dinah's mother worked with Helena's father in the past," Barbara informed her. "We followed many of the same paths….although I didn't formally join the force. My father put the ixnay on that and given how much shit the GCPD has to encounter, I can't say that I fault him too much."

"No, you couldn't, my father was really the same way," Dinah said.

"So, you reconnected with your family, didn't you?" Helena asked Kara. Kara nodded in response. "Good, because I need to ask you to do something."

Kara frowned. She didn't really like where this was going. Granted, Helena was a friend and she trusted her, but she still didn't like how this was going all and all.

"What do you want me to do?" Kara asked. Helena slipped a small disc underneath the table.

"It gives out an electro magnetic field that indicates that no one can hear what we're saying, even if they're trying to listen in," Helena said. "Granted, I'm not sure how it works on super powered hearing, but….."

"The sentiment is there," Kara chimed in.

The door opened up and Kara was surprised, when Diana entered the room. She was dressed with her hair tied back, wearing a pair of glasses, dressed in a white blouse, and a long flowing black skirt, along with heels. She had a pair of stockings on her legs which topped the look off.

"Sorry, Helena, I can't be here for too long, I need to check in with my mother," Diana said.

"It won't take more than a couple of minutes of your time," Helena said.

Diana noticed Kara sitting there. "The two of you know each other?"

"Yes, from when I didn't have my memories properly," Kara informed Diana. "I'm surprised the two of you know each other."

Diana shrugged with a smile on her face. "I got into a spot of trouble, that she helped me out of."

"You seem to get into trouble a lot, Princess," Kara said. Diana pulled a face and Kara shrugged in response. "I'm just saying, that's all."

"I know you are," Diana said. "So what's the deal?"

"I've found out some information about how set Waller onto Clark," Helena said. "I need to discuss it with him in person….and I can't leave Gotham City again…..without raising too much suspicion. And my father knows more than he's letting on, but he's not telling me."

There was a part of Helena who thought that her father still fancied himself as the Detective, even though he couldn't do the physical element of it any more thanks to his numerous injuries he suffered.

"So, do you think that you could bring Clark to Gotham City?" Helena asked him.

"Well, I'm sure that I can try to bring him here," Kara said. "But I'm going to have to tell him why, you know."

Helena really wished that she could tell Kara more, but she couldn't, mostly because there were so many elements to this entire sticky mess that she didn't understand.

"I hate to shoo you off so quickly, but we really do need him, and need him soon," Helena said. "My sources indicated the benefactor and his partner might be making a move."

"The benefactor has a partner?" Kara asked.

"There is more than one person involved," Helena said. She had one final bombshell that she decided to drop on Kara before they were done tonight. "And when Hades and Faust were opening up all of those portals, something else might have gotten through."

That left Kara intrigued and suspicious. She wondered what Helena's theory was and she was almost too afraid to ask.

"I'll tell him," Kara said firmly and calmly.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One: Birds of Prey Part One.**

* * *

Kara made her way back to the Kent Farm with a big smile on her face. She might have gotten here in an extremely awkward manner, but Kara had to admit that she was glad that the Kents had welcomed her in with open arms.

She could see Martha making coffee. It was extremely early in the morning. She smiled when she looked up at Kara.

"Did your trip to visit your friends turn out like you hoped?" Martha asked. She put some breakfast out in front Kara, who thought it would be rude not to take it. Plus, what person in their right mind would turn down the chance to sample Martha Kent's cooking.

"It went well," Kara responded. She leaned back against the chair and smiled. She took the coffee.

"I made it hot as I could, just like you asked," Martha said.

"Thanks Martha, I really appreciate it," Kara said. She sipped the scalding hot coffee that would burn a human mouth with a human tolerance. Martha smiled. "And I mean that, I appreciate pretty much everything, that happened….you know that, don't you?"

"It's not a problem at all," Martha said. "You're family."

"Clark found the right people when he landed," Kara said. Martha had told her that they didn't find Clark, Clark found them, and Kara would have to agree. "Where is Clark and Mr. Kent anyway?"

"Jonathan, he's out in the barn, doing some things….I swear, I don't know when that man finds time to sleep," Martha said. She exchanged a weak smile. "And Clark…he had a late night….after everything that happened….well Jonathan and I are concerned, but….we can only support what he does."

"I won't let anything bad happen to him," Kara said. She ate the pancakes. Some of the maple syrup stuck to her fingers. "That's the reason why I came here in the first place…to help watch over him and…..well things….things went a bit wrong."

Martha nodded in a sympathetic manner. She couldn't imagine what it was like to lose your memories for that long. She knew that it must have been awful for Kara to not have any sense of who she was and why she was here. That was why she was glad that Kara found her way to them when she did. And Clark fixed her.

"I'm glad that he had such a strong foundation here," Kara said. She could hear a rustling from upstairs. "Normally, he's up pretty early….Lois, Lana, Lori, and Chloe must have had him out late last night."

Martha really didn't have any room to talk, she had some pretty late nights in Metropolis with friends when she was younger.

Speaking of which, Clark made his way down the steps. He decided to join them for Breakfast. He leaned down and gave Kara a quick kiss on the lips, also stealing a piece of bacon from her in the process.

"You look like you've been put through the ringer," Kara said.

"Chloe and Lois made a bet and….well needless to say, I was the hapless guinea pig," Clark informed Kara. Kara raised her eyebrow and smiled. "And I'd give you details, but…..well needless to say both girls played for blood."

That didn't really say anything to Kara. She nibbled on her toast. "Clark, one of my friends is insistent on meeting you."

"Oh?" Clark asked. He wondered why.

"She wanted to speak with you…it was about something important," Kara said.

Clark raised his eyebrow. He noticed that Kara was neglecting that she made a trip to Gotham City when she spoke and it was obvious exactly why she was doing this. Martha standing a few feet away from them was the obvious case.

"Lana told me that you have a three day weekend coming up, I was hoping that the two of us could….spend it together," Kara said. Clark raised his eyebrow. "I suppose we can invite the others along."

"Clark, the harvest is over," Martha said, almost answering her son's unasked questions. "Jonathan keeps finding things to do, but it's maintenance work on that old tractor….you know the one where I really wish that he would get rid of it."

Clark chuckled, he knew all about that tractor. He knew that his mother raged about that tractor a time or two in the past, and….well he couldn't really blame her for what she was saying.

"Why don't we go for a walk, now that we're done?" Clark asked.

It was one of the last beautiful days of the year in Smallville he had a feeling and he wanted to enjoy it. Especially if he was going where he expected that Kara was taking him, but that was beside the point. The two of them grabbed hands and made their way outside without another word to speak.

"So, Gotham City?" Clark asked Kara. Kara frowned when she looked at him. "This isn't about what happened at the Cadmus facility, is there?"

Clark managed to piece it together that Helena Wayne and the Huntress were one and the same. It did explain where she got all of those amazing toys that she favored on her mission. Kara smiled when she looked at Clark.

"Yes, Clark, it really is about what happened at the Cadmus facility," Kara informed her. "And I think that Helena has figured out who the benefactor is."

* * *

Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot was an aristocrat, a high class entrepreneur, and a gentleman of grand class and sophistication, at least in his mind. Beyond his own mind however, in the minds of other people, he was nothing but a thug, a gangster, and a low life.

He was a well-connected low life, that was something that some people would concede, to be honest. The man arrived, dressed in his finest attire. He held a briefcase which dangled from his hands and there was a wicked grin that crossed over his face. This kind of power and influence could not be bought, not that he hadn't tried in the past.

He met with a fairly attractive and well dressed red headed woman. She had her hair tied back and wore a pair of sunglasses, despite the fact that they were indoors in the evening. It was obvious that her trust for someone on the level of Cobblepot only went so far. Her disgust went even further.

"So, you wanted to meet with me here, didn't you?" Cobblepot asked. He gave her one of those charming smiles, or rather what he assumed to be a charming smile. It came across more along the lines of a sadistic leer. His teeth twisted into a crazed grin. "Miss….."

"Tess Mercer, I was sent here from LuthorCorp," she said calmly. "My employer….he doesn't have time to make the trip to Gotham City. I figured, the money would be as green in my hand, and he did as well."

"Yes, of course my dear, money is money," Cobblepot said. He reached forward and put a cigar into his mouth.

One of the LuthorCorp goons plucked the cigar from his grasp. That caused Cobblepot's eyes to widen, but he didn't say much of anything.

"Onto business," Tess told him firmly. "Do you have the money?"

"Depends on if the goods on the truck is to my liking, love," he said in a posh and sophisticated, at least in his mind, British accent. "Perhaps you can show me what you have to offer. After all, you show me yours, and I'll show you mine."

Tess didn't even raise an eyebrow to what he said. Perhaps it was because she was all too used to some jackasses who attempt to hit on her. Actually that was the case, one hundred percent of the way.

"This way," Tess informed him.

Cobblepot followed her out of the door. The woman really was good at leading the way. Cobblepot thought that he would do good in following her. His boys followed him.

"Now, watch closely lads, because this is how you do business," Cobblepot said.

Tess snapped her fingers and a security guard opened the back of the truck. A set of steps descended from the back of the truck and Cobblepot entered inside.

He might be getting a little on in age, but he was about as full of piss and vinegar as ever before. He stepped inside the truck, with a wicked smile.

"Well, well, well, look what we've got here," Cobblepot said. He reached forward and grabbed one of the items that rested in the truck. It was a really beauty, it was, if he had to say so himself. Impressed, that was a pretty good way to describe what he saw.

"And it's fully functional as well," she replied.

"Yes, I can see that, I know a little thing or two about this….." Cobblepot said. He recognized a tracer on the side of the crates. "Oi, what is going on here? It's been compromised."

"I didn't…."

Huntress jumped down and took out two of the goons. A third goon got a wooden staff driven into his stomach, doubling him over. She flipped over the top of the head, and disarmed the Penguin.

"That bint broke my bloody hand," Cobblepot growled.

Things were about to get from bad to worse. Black Canary showed up and reared her head back. There was a loud canary cry that flipped the truck over.

"His benefactor, she got away," Canary said. She could see the goons scrambling around. She flipped over the top of their heads and then kicked them hard.

"But they won't," Huntress said. She threw a pair of crystal vials at the ground and it caused ice to be created.

The thugs slipped on the ice, following backwards onto the ground. Cobblepot looked at them, disgusted that they were acting like a bunch of bloody keystone cops. He couldn't believe these goons and what they were up to.

"It just goes to show you, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself," Cobblepot cursed. He pulled out a semi automatic machine gun and started firing on them. "Alright, you bloody Birds of Prey, I'm warning you, you've met the ultimate Bird of Prey, and you bitches are going down."

Cobblepot was taken down by a blur that rushed at him and knocked him on his face. The last thing that he knew, he was taken out.

He got his weapons, the associate for the benefactor got her money, unfortunately for Cobblepot, he didn't count on losing the weapons just about five seconds after he received them. That was kind of a bloody annoyance for him.

* * *

Barbara sat back down at the Clocktower. She was trying to make sense out of the nonsense that was going on. She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, when she was on the headset.

"So, LuthorCorp is selling weapons to Cobblepot," Barbara said. "Why would they do something like that? I thought they enjoyed their image as a respected company."

"Even though they did some entirely shady things behind the scene," Helena said. She spoke with a calm tone. "And it's not juts Cobblepot that they're selling to. It's every single gang in Gotham City."

"Why?" Barbara asked. She paused and it all clicked into her mind. She had just answered her question and she didn't like it, but she just answered it. "Oh, I see."

"Yes, is it all coming back to you clearly now?" Helena asked her. Barbara responded with a swift nod in response.

"He's trying to create a gang war, because he knows that you're on his tail," Barbara said. She frowned and craned her neck back. "I have to say that's pretty clever, if you really think about it. Transparent when you know the game, but it's pretty clever, isn't it?"

"Quite," Helena said. "See if you can find out where any of the other LuthorCorp shipments are going. If you can."

"Of course I can," Barbara said.

She sounded almost insulted that Helena implied that she couldn't do her job. She tapped her fingers at the edge of the screen and dragged up the information in question.

"One is on the edge of Old Gotham….the old mobsters who are still clinging on….can't believe they're still clinging on," Barbara said. She cleared her throat and shook her head to clear her head. "But they're still clinging on, and they want to take down the new age mobsters like Cobblepot and Black Mask."

Granted, calling Cobblepot and Black Mask new age might be pushing things, but here you went.

"You know, maybe you should have a word with your father about this," Dinah said over the communication link.

"I'm not having this discussion, Dinah," Helena said. It was like every time any suggestion that she should talk to her father came up. Helena became magically deaf to the entire situation. "If I talk to him now, I'll justify every word he said about me….I shouldn't be a part of this mission, but he worked himself to the mission, until he couldn't work anymore."

Helena couldn't recall how many birthdays, Christmases, school events, her father missed because of the mission. She really hated the mission and she was pretty sure the mission wasn't too fond of her sometimes.

"Fine, but we could use some help," Dinah argued. She frowned. "Although, we did get a little bit of assistance taking Cobblepot out. He's going to need to have his jaw wired shut."

"Can't say that I'm too broken up about that," Barbara said. "You should be able to cut off the shipment at the corner of 7th avenue and West Way."

"On it," Helena said.

Barbara smiled. There were times where she really missed being out of the field and there were other times where she was glad that she wasn't out on the field. It was an interesting contrast to be honest. She leaned back and tapped her fingers.

There was a call on the other line and Barbara though that she could hold it.

"Oracle, is that you?" Kara asked.

"Yes…and thanks for using the codename…..you know, you don't have one, technically yet, and you really need one," Barbara said. She shook her head. She was training for a comeback on the field, but there wasn't anyone to fill her shoes on the mission support front. "I think that you and your sidekick are in Gotham City."

"Yes, and he has quite the amusing look on his face when you called him my sidekick," Kara said. "Is the Huntress around?"

"She and Black Canary are busy busting up a lot of shipments of weapons coming into Gotham City," Barbara said.

"From, Luthorcorp, right?" another voice asked. She broke into the frequency and that caught Barbara off guard.

"Who the hell are you and how in the hell did you hack into my frequency?" Barbara asked. She looked rather sour.

"My name is Chloe, and quite easily," Chloe said. She sounded a bit smug and Barbara wanted to both congratulate and smack her at the same time.

"Congratulations, you get a cookie," Barbara answered in her driest, most sarcastic tone of voice. "So, are you all in town?"

"Yes, we are….and a few of our friends showed up with us," Kara said. "They're well aware of the double life we lived."

"Good to see that they're fine with that, those are friends that you should hold onto," Barbara said. She leaned back and gave a soft sigh. "We'll meet you tomorrow afternoon…..good luck in Gotham City….and whatever you do, don't hitchhike."

"Um, thanks for the advice," Chloe said. She wasn't sure if Barbara was kidding or not, but she was going to assume that she was serious.

"And also don't let anyone hitchhike, and the bigger the smile, the bigger the homicidal maniac," Barbara said. "Trust me on that one."

She piped up.

"Welcome to Gotham City, hope you survive the experience," Barbara said. "And I've got a call on the other line, so if you're done making my secure line look not so secure…."

"Yeah, I've got a few ideas to make it more secure, if you'd like to hear them," Chloe said. "And I'm pretty sure they would be well within the budget of someone who hangs around a billionaire heiress, if you would like to hear them."

"Believe me," Barbara commented. "I'm all ears."

* * *

"You know, all things considered, my father would have a shit fit if he found out that I was in Gotham City," Lois said. She spoke candidly and calmly.

"So, that's why you didn't tell him?" Chloe asked.

"Did you tell your father?" Lois asked. Chloe shook her head. "And I know for a fact Lana didn't tell her aunt."

"As far as my aunt knows, I'm in Metropolis, doing a school project, a school project that I got done weeks ago," Lana said. "Because, unlike some people, I'm not a master of procrastination."

Lois thought the shit fit her father would have if she was in Gotham City would be pretty amusing. Especially when compared to some of the third world shit holes the General dragged her and Lucy, which were the epitome of third world shitholes. Lois might have already mentioned that, she honestly couldn't recall.

A rather attractive dark haired woman showed up and Chloe turned to Kara. "I can't believe that you made friends with the illusive Wayne heiress."

"Believe me, that makes two of us," Kara confirmed. She was glad that Helena gave her the help to point her in the right direction.

"Thanks for coming," Helena said. "Sorry, it took me so late to get here."

"No problem," Clark said. He leaned towards her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, and this time without the mask."

Helena didn't say anything. One could almost see her lips curl into a soft little smile. It was almost like she enjoyed this, or perhaps that was the assumption that one might have.

"This is Barbara Gordon," Helena said. She turned to Chloe with a smile. "I believe that you hacked her high class security."

"Guilty as charged," Chloe said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Well, it isn't every day someone breaks through my encryption," Barbara said. "That was a one in a million shot…that won't happen again."

Chloe smiled.

"And this is Lana Lang and Lois Lane," Clark said. "And you've already met, Chloe Sullivan."

"Yes, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well," Barbara said. She looked up at him and she could see he was an imposing young man. Her eyes practically drank him in when she raked over her body.

To say that her heart raced might be putting things bluntly.

An attractive blonde dressed in a leather jacket, a tight white top, and blue jeans, with leather chaps, and fingerless gloves stepped in. She grinned when she looked at him.

"Hi, Clark…..Kara told us so much about you," she said. "Dinah Lance."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dinah," Clark said politely.

"Likewise," she said.

Helena cleared her throat. She folded her arms at the sight of her two friends who were eying up Clark like he was some kind of slab of beef. It had been a long time for either of them, but still, it didn't mean that they had to be like that.

"I'm sure that we're going to get to know you really well later," Barbara said.

"Yes, really well," Dinah chimed in with a grin. "But we know how Helena gets when she wants something….so we'll let her have at it."

Helena shook her head. It was obvious her two friends were trying to get underneath her skin. Lois and Lana grinned and decided to join Dinah over at the bar.

"Technically everyone here is under age," Clark said.

"Technically, you're in Gotham City," Helena said. Clark wasn't able to run from that particular logic.

The three of the made their way to the back of the club, but Helena stopped short and turned around. Her face twisted into a grimace.

Clark and Kara both picked up on that, but it was Kara who spoke first. "What's wrong?"

"My father is here," Helena said. Clark looked at her. "I'm not sure if that's bad news for you or not, but that's bad news for me. The only time my father takes an active interest in my life is when I mess up pretty badly."

And that stunt at Cadmus might have been classified as screwing up badly.

The man approached them. He was a dark haired man, with some silver streaks in his hair. He had a stiff walk, and it was obvious that each step pained him, but he was too stubborn to ask for help.

"Mr. Kent, if I'm not mistaken." the man said.

"You're Helena's father, Bruce Wayne, right?" Clark asked. He looked at the man, his boy scout charm coming through. "Do you need any help, sir?"

"I'm fine," Bruce said. "But, I do need to speak to my daughter regarding….family business."

"It will be fine," Helena said. She brushed her fingers against Clark's hand. She could see her father give Clark the disapproving stare of death.

Lois looked up. She thought her Daddy-Daughter issues sense was tingling and she proved to be right with things like this.

* * *

**To Be Continued.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two: Birds of Prey Part Two.**

* * *

While Helena was busy dealing with the situation regarding her father, Kara and Clark were busy investigating things all on their own. They decided to pay a visit to the Iceberg Longue. Clark whistled when he looked over it.

"So, this is the place where the rich and the famous go in Gotham City, is it?" Clark asked. He frowned when he looked it over and he had one slight concern. "I'm not sure how we're supposed to get inside….I mean, wouldn't you have to have a reservation?"

Kara forgot at times how proper Clark could be. "We're not going to go in the front, but we're going to go the back."

She heard that the Penguin managed to get his way out of the GCPD lockup. Rumors had it that some money changed hands. There was something that greased the palms and allowed him to walk free on the streets, at the very least.

There were two guards. Kara used her heat vision to set fire to some garbage. That caused the guards to be directed in the opposite direction, and for Kara and Clark to speed on in.

Clark looked at him, but Kara shrugged. "Hey, we could have knocked them out, but that would have caused a bit of a ruckus that we would have liked to avoid if we wanted to go inside."

"And burning garbage wouldn't have caused a ruckus?" Clark asked her. Kara smiled when she looked at Clark. "Yeah, I know."

"It's good that you know," Kara answered. She peered down the hallway. If her guess was right, Cobblepot's office was down the hallway.

Sure enough, it would be the biggest and most obscene office. Kara looked through the door in the office. He was asleep at his desk, with a bottle of some kind of alcohol lying beside him.

Clark wrapped his foot against the desk causing it to rattle. Cobblepot jolted up and gave a loud angry squawk in anger.

"What the bloody hell is the meaning of this?" Cobblepot asked. He could see two figures standing in front of them. "How did you get in here?"

He reached for his umbrella, but it was kicked out of his reach. He tried to move, but he was grabbed.

"You're not the cops, aren't you?" Cobblepot asked. "Because, if you are, I already paid my standard fee."

"No, I'm not a cop," Clark said. He found it hard to believe that the cops in Gotham City could be so corrupt.

Cobblepot stared into these eyes and what he saw….well he wasn't really intimidated. "Oh, you're going to be some do gooding hero, aren't you? Well, you might be new in town, and if that's the case, I'll go easy on you. But I'll tell you one thing, Sunny Jim do gooders don't do well in Gotham City. They get fucked, and they don't get fucked in a good way either, do you hear me?"

Clark didn't say anything. He roughly squeezed Cobblepot's hand.

"Man, you got a good grip on you, don't you?" Cobblepot asked. He couldn't activate the alarm.

"You're going to tell us everything that you know," Kara said. She smirked.

"Or what?" Cobblepot asked. "He's going to break my arm. Well, I've had my arm broken before. And that's not a day at the picnic, but when you live in Gotham City…you learn to take your lumps. Go ahead, love, have him break my arm. See if that gets you anyway."

Clark tightened up his grip.

"That's a pussy way to break an arm," Cobblepot taunted them. "You're going to have to d better than that if you want…if you want…"

"I'm not sure if I heard you," Clark said. He twisted the man's arm and it snapped.

"You know, I'm sure that he's right, we're going about this the wrong way," Kara said. Cobblepot nodded. "It's obvious we're dealing with a rather hard man…who has had his arm broken a few times. And maybe his legs, and his skull as well. This is Gotham City, you don't last as long as you have without….being tough as nails."

Kara leaned towards him with a grin on her face. "You've had your arm broken, you said? But have you had it melted off?"

"What are you talking about you crazy bitch?" Cobblepot asked. Kara's eyes narrowed and she shot heat vision at the chair behind them. The chair reduced into a melted pile of burning steel. "Alright, what do you need to know?"

"Where can I find the person who sold you the weapons?" Clark asked.

"I don't know….she was some kind of go between Luthor sent, she was a real frigid bitch," Cobblepot said. He didn't want to step on Luthor's toes, that could make his life rather difficult.

The flicker of heat vision in Kara's eyes made Cobblepot rethink his stubborn strategy. He twitched when Clark head onto his arm.

"Alright, Gotham Arms Hotel, the Plaza, Room 512, I think that she's in, but I swear, I don't know if she's still in there," Cobblepot practically squawked. "Now, are you going to let go of my bloody arm, or not?"

"Maybe," Clark said. A grin twisted over his lips. "Maybe I am, maybe I aren't."

He let Cobblepot fall to the ground and they were off. They got the information that they needed from him.

They just hoped that it would be good enough and they didn't get sent straight into a trap.

* * *

Thankfully, common sense prevailed once in the life of the super hero. They made their way back to the clocktower. Dinah was getting patched up from Barbara.

"Ran into a mugger that decided to be a little rougher than he needed to be," Dinah told Clark and Kara. Clark raised his eyebrow. "I think that I won that little battle though. He's in intensive care, and I'm sitting here talking to you."

Dinah smiled when she looked at him.

"And I'd like to get to know you better, when this insanity is over," Dinah said.

"We both do," Barbara said. She looked over Clark with a smile on her face. She stepped closer towards him and Dinah stepped on his other side.

If Clark didn't have super powers, he would have been trapped in. Kara cleared her throat and caused both of the women to look at her.

"You can shamelessly hit on Clark later, and you can do more if you want to," Kara said.

"Much more," Lana agreed. She had left Chloe with the computer system at the Clocktower and Barbara joined her to work on some of the upgrades in the city. "You can do pretty much what you want in fact."

"Oh, should I consider that your blessing?" Dinah asked. She smiled and she looked at Clark. "I'm sure that Clark could give me a nice, good, checking over….."

"It's been a long time for her," Helena said. That caused Dinah to look at her. The moment was lost with her. "And you're an upgrade to the last man that he was with."

"Well, if that isn't true, I don't know what is," Barbara muttered. Chloe looked at her strangely. "Never mind, just thinking out loud."

"That can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing," Chloe informed her. Barbara corked her eyebrow at her in response. Chloe just grinned in response. "I'm just saying, that's all."

"Yes, I know," Barbara replied. She placed her hands on either side of her hips and leaned back with a sigh. "But, at least these upgrades were prevent someone from hacking into my computer….unless you've slipped a backdoor in there."

"I would never slip into your backdoor," Chloe said. She smiled. "That came out wrong."

Lois, who couldn't really keep a straight face, broke out into laughter. She didn't really pay attention to what Clark and Helena were doing. Speaking of things that came out wrong.

"Cobblepot might be setting you up, or he might be setting up Luthor and his envoy," Helena suggested. "It's hard to say. The cagey bird has gotten more crafty with age. And even he's easier to figure out than some people are."

"Is he?" Clark.

The two of them were unwilling, or potentially unable to address the elephant in the room and that was the meeting that Helena went through with her father. Helena was making her way to the computers and pulled up the records.

"Well, a LuthorCorp employee is staying in that hotel room," Helena answered her. She punched up a couple more keys and a full profile was up. "I hacked into the LuthorCorp database….."

"Without me," Barbara said. She almost sounded wounded when she spoke.

"Yes, I'm capable of doing things on my own," Helena said in a completely deadpan voice. She had a picture of a strikingly gorgeous red haired woman with green eyes. She might be even more strikingly gorgeous if she smiled. "Tess Mercer….she is the Executive Vice President at LuthorCorp."

"And another redhead," Lana said. She shook her head in response. "And if I had to make a guess, she's nothing but trouble."

"Aren't all redheads trouble by default?" Chloe asked. That caused Lana and Barbara to look at her for a moment. She shrugged in response.

Barbara softened her expression after a moment when she looked at Chloe. "I guess we could say that."

"We can say that…yes, I would have to agree," Barbara commented. Her tone softened a whole lot when she spoke. "The real question is, what's her game?"

"Maybe I should ask her," Clark said.

Lana and Lois were about to protest that, but Helena jumped in. "That isn't exactly the worst idea in the world."

"Well, if you were going to ask her, then maybe we should have swung by and done so right away," Kara said. Clark frowned. "Yeah, I get it, you wanted to return to make sure that you had all of the facts."

Clark turned to look out of the windows from the clock tower that lead down to Gotham City. He would say that they were magnificent looking, but they might be understating how great things looked just a little bit.

"I wanted to know who I was going to visit," Clark said.

"I'm going to see if I can't find out anything from the other end," Helena said. She rose to her feet and Dinah and Kara joined her. "We're going to keep in constant contact, and let each other know what we find."

"Well, hopefully it won't be trouble," Lois said.

"Taunting Murphy ,much, Lois?" Chloe asked. Lois frowned when she looked back at her cousin.

"Well, to be fair, that guy's been a recurring thorn in my side for a very long time," Lois suggested.

* * *

Tess Mercer looked out over Gotham City. If the town hadn't been so infested with crime and corruption, it might have been a halfway decent place to live.

The redhead business woman looked out over the city. She wore a purple robe that flapped open when she took a few steps. She breathed in and out when she waited for the orders. The okay to return back to Metropolis, and she thought that the sooner, the better off she could be. This was the town where you kept your windows, doors, and everything locked. Not to mention you slept with one eye open, with a gun underneath your pillow.

There was a rattling at her window. Tess stepped over and removed the gun underneath from the pillow that she kept. She held it.

"Show yourself, or I'll shoot," Tess said. She didn't want to fire unless she absolutely had to, but at the same time, she wasn't going to sit here like a target.

"We need to talk," a young man said.

"It's you, isn't it?" Tess asked. She could see his face vibrating in the shadows. "Yes, I thought that….people are really interested in you….you're in and you're out, faster than a speeding bullet. Hopefully not where it counts."

She realized that he had no humor from that. She didn't lower her gun, because it was one of the few means of security that she had.

"What can I do for you?" Tess asked. "I would offer your coffee, but….it's really hard to get good room service this late at night in Gotham City."

"What do you know about the meta human army?" Clark asked her.

Tess laughed. She sounded fairly amused and Clark wondered why. "You're really chasing that rabbit, aren't you?"

Clark looked at her strangely and Tess smiled at him.

"The meta human army….well, the meteors are a curiosity, and dare I say it, an obsession for Lex," Tess said. "But there is another reason why he's interested in you beyond that. It is good to keep your friends closer and your enemies closer."

"Exactly how do you….."

"You know, a man of my employer's caliber, he's going to have many plans, and not all of them are going to be considered to be sane," Tess said. She smiled. "Sure, he funded Waller, but she was little more than a glorified puppet. When it came time to cut the strings, he will do so."

"And aren't you worried about him cutting your strings?"

"See, I asked myself that question a few times already myself," Tess said. She reached towards him and placed her finger on his chin. "And to answer your question, I'm not worried about him cutting my strings. I've got a plan. I'm too useful for him to shove away. While he's making his grand plans, someone has to do all of the LuthorCorp leg work."

"What purpose would you have of triggering a gang war in Gotham City?" Clark asked her.

"Luthorcorp just supplied for the demand, there's always a gang war going on in Gotham City," Tess said. "The daughter of the Bat was getting closer to our operations, and my employer's partner…..she wanted her distracted."

Clark frowned. He was getting way too many questions from this woman. He felt like he was going around like a gerbil who was caught on a wheel.

"You mean Waller?" Clark asked.

"Waller is just someone Lex funds when he needs to be amused," Tess said. "No, he's in bed with some rather dangerous and influential people. Who all seem to be interested with you."

Clark was surprised and this beautiful woman undid the sash of her robes and she made her way over towards her. She placed her hand on it.

"But, if you want information…..I'm sure that we could come to an arrangement," she said. "I don't know why you're hiding your face. You could be a god….worshipped by people."

She paused and realized something.

"And for all the wrong reasons," Tess agreed. "I guess I can see it, but you don't have to hide from me."

Tess was about ready to close the gap between the two of them.

Clark grabbed her and threw her down onto the bed. She gave a surprised ooof, but she wasn't thrown down onto her bed for the reason that she was hoping for.

There was a loud explosion when the front wall of the hotel room was blown through with a huge missile. The crack resounded intensely. Dust was flying in every single direction.

Tess was incensed when she bounced up to her feet. Her neck craned. Her robe flipped open, revealing her black bra, panties, and stockings. They were also covered in dust, which wasn't the most ideal predicament for someone, to be.

He stepped outside and already saw a truck speeding off. The person who took a shot at the hotel room was already gone. There were the sound of sirens outside.

Tess frowned when she approached him from behind. She asked him a question that Clark really wished he could answer.

"Were they after you, or me?" Tess asked. Clark turned around and gave her a look.

"Well, do you think that you can find out?" Clark asked her. Tess frowned and nodded in response, before taking the phone and dialing.

She was going to find out, at least she assumed that she would. Whether or not she would get any straight answers was another matter entirely.

* * *

Helena, Dinah, and Kara crept in the shadows. Kara dressed in a black and silver bodysuit that adhered to her curves quite nicely. It made her feel that she was a lot more a part of a mission, then just someone running around in their street clothes.

"Would it seem clichéd if I said that I didn't like this?" Kara asked. Helena turned towards her, raising her eyebrow. "Because, I don't really like this."

She wasn't really alone with this one either. They were stepping into an old warehouse where one of the Gotham's old mafia families were hanging out.

"You're not the only one," Chloe said.

"Yes, but word is on a street that a bunch of weapon shipments ended up missing in this neighborhood….not sure what's going on," Barbara said.

"Either they got swiped or Luthor is trying to write them off somehow," Helena said. She could have picked either answer and they would have both been right.

The door opening up was not a problem to be honest. She clicked the door open and entered inside. Kara leaned forward, and listened for any sort of trouble.

There was a grinding noise coming from a box lying on the ground. It was both kind of distracting and also extremely off putting. The humming grew louder and Kara made her way forward.

Helena place a device on the box and she motioned for Kara to step back. Dinah and Kara both did and they dove behind a pillar.

The box rattled and then blew open. It opened to reveal that there was absolutely nothing inside the box.

"They must have cleared out," Dinah said. She paused, and looked around.

There was someone here and it was causing her to be put on ease. An individual stepped forward, dressed in a combination of a black and orange bodysuit. He walked forward, with a katana over his back.

"Deathstroke," Helena commented.

"Yes, I'm glad that you remembered me," Deathstroke said. "And there's nothing personal, but….."

He flung a dagger towards the Huntress. She dodged the dagger before it too her out. She landed back on her feet and nearly fell over in the process. The wind was knocked almost out of her when she hit the ground.

"It's only business," Deathstroke finished. He pulled out a sword and rushed her.

Huntress dodged the attack. She knew that with Deathstroke, it was business, but it didn't make him any more dangerous.

Black Canary used her canary cry. Deathstroke smiled and stared her down, before nailing her with an open handed palm strike.

"You're going to have to get up a bit sooner to pull one over me like that," Deathstroke commented. He avoided the attacks from the Huntress's attacks. "I've studied your every move….you're not as good as your father was in his prime."

"I prefer to think that I'm my own person," The Huntress said. She slid underneath the blade of Deathstroke. "And I'm better able to work better with others."

Kara nailed Deathstroke. He landed onto the ground from the force of the punch. The man rolled over and rubbed his jaw. He launched three pellets into the air. The pellets exploded, releasing a gas into the air.

Huntress tried to attack him. Deathstroke grabbed her by the hair, turned her around and slammed her down onto the ground. He pushed her down onto her face. "The supered powered ones are on my list, and I've got a perfect weapon to deal with them."

Deathstroke pulled out a knife. It had a green blade that emitted a glow that caused Kara to back off. She felt a little dizzy. "Yes, this is your Achilles heel, isn't it?"

She felt herself dizzied in response and staggered. He was about ready to take her out.

Deathstroke activated an explosion and caused debris to fall down. Huntress and Black Canary rushed around to avoid the attacks.

"Now, where were we?" Deathstroke asked. "Your doom."

Kara was pushed out of the way at the last second. Clark stood right in front of Deathstroke and he received a violent stab to the chest. He staggered backwards and landed on the ground, breathing extremely heavy in response.

"Scratch one off of the list," Deathstroke said. He looked down without any humor in his eyes.

It didn't matter who he killed, because he was being paid to take one of them out either way.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three: Birds of Prey Part Three.**

* * *

Kara watched Clark go down. Time seemed to crawl by at a still rate. Her mouth hung open when she saw him hit the ground. Her heart was beating immensely fast against her chest when she saw him go down hard onto the ground. The moment she saw Clark go down, everything felt like it was crawling down to a gushing stop.

She saw red, there was no question about it. The gloating of Deathstroke was something that didn't reach her ears quite yet. Namely because of the simple fact that she snapped and hurled herself at the man.

Two fists nailed him hard against the chest. There was a solid crack when Deathstroke was plowed into the ground. Kara brought him down onto his back on the ground. She raised her arms into the air and slammed them down onto him again.

Kara raised her fist up into the air one more time and plowed him in the face. The mercenary tried to reach into his overcoat to grab a knife, but Kara never really let him do so. She grabbed his arm and twisted it. It cracked with a solid pop.

She grabbed his arm and flipped him over onto his back. He landed hard onto the ground with a sickening thud.

Kara propelled herself up high into the air and brought her foot down onto the back of the man's head with a spectacular curb stomp. It rocked his entire world. Deathstroke landed on the ground and rolled over. Blood poured from his mouth.

He didn't beg for mercy. Kara didn't care. She raised her fist and kept pummeling him hard. She felt his jawbone crunch underneath her fist. She lifted her arm and nearly brought it down into his face one more time.

Helena grabbed her arm, preventing her from finishing the job. Kara started breathing heavily when Helena held her arm back. She turned towards Helena, shaking her head.

"Don't hold me back, I've got to finish him off, he killed…."

Helena grabbed Kara firmly and held her back. The only reason Kara didn't throw her off was that she didn't want to hurt Helena. Dinah stepped over and looked down at Slade to make sure he was knocked out. She turned back around.

"He's still alive," Helena said. "I need you to pull the blade out of his chest….before he heals."

Kara stepped forward. She placed her hands down and grabbed the blade. She yanked it, pulling it from Clark's chest.

He coughed and blood splattered out of his mouth. She turned around and hurled the dagger into the air.

A blast of heat vision destroyed the dagger and made sure that no one would ever be able to use it to harm another person for as long as they lived. Helena looked at Kara with a frown, seeing how intense the girl was.

"I do, what I have to do," Kara informed her. She folded her arms and almost was daring Helena to contradict her.

"What we need to do is get Clark out of here," Helena said. "And he's pretty much dead weight to the both of us."

Kara paused and nodded. She couldn't really worry about any attempt of petty revenge when her Clark was down on the floor, an inch away from death. She reached down and pulled him up. She winced when he buckled underneath her weight.

"Yes, dead weight is right," Kara said. "Do you have any place where we can take him?"

Helena paused and the nodded after a moment of consideration. "The clocktower has state of the art medical facilities. It has everything that we can ever need and want to treat him."

Kara pulled Clark up to a standing position and he hung over her back. She summoned all the super strength that she could to get out of her.

"Just get him to the plane," Helena said.

After all, what kind of friend would she be if she made Kara fly him all the way there, not a very good one. Kara looked at her in an appreciative manner.

The quartet made their way outside without too much incident. That was one of the few good things that happened all night.

"Hang on Kal, just hang on," Kara whispered. Clark looked at her with a weak smile that indicated that he understood.

If he didn't pull through, Kara would track down Deathstroke and finish the job that she started. She had been sent here to protect him in any way that she could and she felt a personal responsibility that she failed at that.

Helena walked over and opened the back of the plane. She opened it and she and Dinah helped Kara drag Clark's limp body into the passenger seat.

"Meet us there," Helena said.

"Right," Dinah said with a nod and a smile. She ran off to get her motorcycle, to follow them on the ground.

Kara and Helena both got into the plane. It went without saying that time was of the essence, and one could argue that it was running out for Clark.

Helena didn't really break under pressure. That was one of the good traits that she got from her father. Still, it would be foolish not to admit how dire the situation she had gotten into had begun.

They arrived at the Watchtower in a matter of seconds.

"Barbara, prep the medical station," Helena said.

"Already done," Barbara replied. She could feel the anxiety that Helena was feeling and she shared it. She really hoped that he would be okay. To be cut down in the prime of his life like that, well it would be cruel to anyone, no matter who they were.

* * *

Tess paced around like a caged animal. She moved from the hotel into the LuthorCorp office in Gotham City. This made her feel like less of a sitting duck because she thought that this place had actual good security.

The night had started off so well and they had made a profit. Sure the Birds of Prey interfered, but she got away scot free. That was always a win as far as she was concerned.

The only problem was the night went downhill from there. She thought that it was looking up for a moment when that powerful young man came to visit her and came to rock her world, in more ways than one. Unfortunately, that really didn't go as planned.

Tess frowned and waited when she was on the phone. She wanted some answers of why a rocket launcher was launched through her hotel room window. Especially when she was on the verge of about to partake on something so wonderful, and she hated having the lack of answers. That wasn't how her mind was wired.

The phone was finally picked up, after being put on hold for over ten minutes. Not a long time, but when you were as anxious as Tess was tonight, it might as well have felt like an eternity.

"It's fairly early," the voice on the other end of the phone said. "I trust that everything went according to plan last night."

"If you mean I got the money from Cobblepot, then yes, and….the other trucks disappeared just like you intended," Tess said.

"Good, that was the plan that I was referring to," the man on the other end of the phone said in a silky tone. He sounded rather pleased with himself.

"There was an unintended complication though," she continued.

"If you have the money, then I don't see any unintended complications," the man commented in a casual and dare she say it, cruel tone of voice.

"I don't suppose the rocket launched through my window classifies as a complication in your world, then," she fired back. If she sounded snippy, it was because she was.

The man raised his eyebrow quite casually at that point. "Well, that's interesting, isn't it?"

Tess figured that his non answer should have been the best answer that she could have hoped for this evening. She pressed on, because that was the kind of person that she was.

"You could have blown me up, along with him," Tess said.

"You seem in remarkably good health for not getting blown up," the man on the other end of the phone remarked with a chuckle. "So, excuse me if you find my sympathies a little lacking. I knew that you were going to survive."

"How could you be certain of that?" Tess asked.

"Because, he would have saved you, and if I wanted you dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation, now, would we?" he asked. "If on the off chance I was wrong, I would have sent flowers and would have been very disappointed in him for letting this happen."

Tess looked on. She couldn't believe it, but at the same time, she really could believe it. That was just like him to shift the blame elsewhere.

"And it wasn't my call to make," he said.

"Your business partner?" she asked.

"Yes, he can be a very interesting, if not a bit peculiar, man," he continued. "He's into chess, high stakes, dangerous chess, and….I don't like to argue with him. I hate to be seen as a pawn."

Tess frowned. That statement was chalked full of irony so much that she didn't even know when to pick it apart.

The problem was that he was being turned into a pawn, a rather unwitting one. He was so arrogant and so blinded with his ambitions that he couldn't see that was happened. The woman's lips curled into a frown.

"I see," Tess answered.

"I wouldn't be so sour about it, Tess," the man said. "You're being kept on your toes. And you got to see him up close and person."

Tess bit her tongue, but she thought that he would be a lot more up close and more in person if he hadn't interfered.

"I'm going to make a big announcement, and I would enjoy your support for it," he said. "We need to all unite, because the world is going to change. And the Luthors….."

"Never are not on top," Tess said. She spoke in the driest tone of the voice. Her arms folded against her chest when she spoke. "The gang war in Gotham City is going nicely, but….I think that she was able to see through what you were doing."

He chuckled over the phone. "She really is her father's daughter, isn't she?"

Tess frowned. This wasn't the first time that she got the impression that Lex knew a fair bit more than he was letting on. Then again, he prided himself of having a great intellect, so that much was painfully obvious.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Tess asked.

The only and only Lex Luthor chuckled. "Absolutely nothing….just sit tight. I don't think that there will be any more rocket launchers coming your way tonight….but you should keep on your toes, just in case."

Tess sighed, that wasn't honestly funny, and Lex thought that he was being humorous. She mentally counted the days when she could get him out of the company and get control for herself. She was making allies, but she had to do it discreetly.

* * *

Clark jolted awake. He was on the bed, naked from the waist up and he didn't know how he was from the waist down, due to the fact that he was covered with a sheet from the waist down.

"Good, you're awake."

Helena sat at the edge of the bed. She wore a pair of tight leather pants and a purple blouse that strained against her bust. She leaned forward with a smile.

Clark caught a glimpse of her cleavage and felt a stirring come from beneath his waist.

"So, I got caught off guard, didn't I?" Clark asked.

"Relax," Helena said. She placed her hand on the top of his head. "I'm pretty sure that all of the meteor shrads have been removed from your chest."

"Yeah, I guess that they were," Clark said. He tried to raise off of the position, but he collapsed down and breathed heavily. "This doesn't feel like…"

"Yes, it doesn't," Helena agreed. "You were very lucky that it didn't puncture any organs."

Clark knew that was for sure. He shook his head in response and felt Helena's hand run over his.

"I'm certain the scarring will heal, although a bit slower," Helena said, checking him out. "You don't feel any pain."

"No, I don't feel any pain," Clark said. There was something else that he felt down below and Helena slowly was working her way down and pulled back with a smile.

"I had to accelerate your healing factor," Helena said. "You might be feeling some side effects because of the methods that I'm using."

Clark raised his eyebrow and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I used the same red meteor rocks that Poison Ivy used to try and control you," Helena said. She smiled when she looked over him.

"You do realize what that does to a person, doesn't it?" Clark asked. He felt a sensation grow behind him.

"Yes, I do, but I think that you could agree that I didn't have that many options," Helena said. She was looking at Clark rise from underneath the sheets. Her lips curled into a sensation little smile when she looked at him rise underneath the sheet.

"You do realize that I lost control, and I don't remember what happened last time, don't you?" Clark asked. He closed his eyes.

"Relax," Helena said. "It's going to be fine…..you haven't taken me the moment that when you woke up, didn't you?"

Clark raised his eyebrow and nodded in response. That was true, despite of the aching sensation he was feeling, he didn't take her the moment that he got out of bed. He really wanted to take her, but he didn't take her.

Helena slowly pulled the sheets back and looked at him. She saw him stand up straight at her, looking large and really thick. There was fluid oozing from it.

"I have to check for any unnatural swelling," Helena said. She spoke in a serious voice.

Clark wasn't sure whether or not she was trying to seduce him or not. Or seeing how far she could push it. Her hand ran slowly over him.

She kept speaking in a professional manner, as if this was perfectly natural. "The red rocks remove your inhibitions and increase your libido….if you were presented with a sexual situation. It really depends on the situation, doesn't it?"

Her hand wrapped around him and she felt him. Her hand couldn't fit around him completely.

"And I'm sure that it be a different reaction, if….if you met someone who you wanted to hurt, but didn't because you were holding yourself back," Helena said. Her hand rested on the edge of his balls.

"Yes," Clark said. "I think so."

"I wonder if the Red Kryptonite effects humans as much as it does you, at least to a moderate level," Helena said. She reached forward and unbuttoned another couple of buttons on her blouse, exposing a lacy black bra. "Theory is that it was, wouldn't you agree?"

"I don't know, you tell me," Clark said. He wondered why she was torturing him like this. He started to throb in pleasure when she looked down at him, releasing him from her grip.

She turned around, under the pretext of grabbing notes. Actually, with her, she was reading her notes. Reading her notes, while bent over a table, her tight leather pants fit over her ass. He looked at her and rose to his feet. He wanted a piece of her ass and it was obvious with that point.

"You seem to be extremely healthy," Helena said. "Your reactions are….."

She turned around and Clark finally broke. He grabbed her and wrapped his strong arms around her. He shoved his tongue down her throat and tried to strangle her with his tongue. His hands groped her ass and her breasts when he pushed her back. His cock pushed against her thigh.

Clark broke the kiss suddenly, coming to his senses.

"Obviously, now that the healing is done, we need to sweat out the red meteor rocks," Helena said. "You shouldn't hold back, it's unhealthy."

With a smile on her face, she pretty much threw herself at Clark and wrapped her arms and legs around him. She shoved her tongue deep into his mouth and she tried to violate his tonsils with her tongue.

Helena pulled away and grinded up against him. She kissed the side of his neck, suckling on it. She gave him an encouraging moan when Clark's hands went to her ass in response.

She kissed his chest and went down further, descending on her knees before him. Clark felt her hot breath further and further towards his throbbing manhood.

* * *

Lex Luthor sat in his office, leaning back against the office chair. He tapped his fingers against the side of the desk and frowned. He was waiting for his benefactor to arrive. He wasn't technically late, but Lex was rather early. He prided himself on being extremely punctual.

Tomorrow was going to be a day where the LexCorp tower was opened in Gotham City. He ran into trouble with Wayne. The old man was too stubborn to stay in the grave and Lex respected the man. He was one of the few men out there that he respected, because of his great intelligence. He frowned when he leaned back.

A figure appeared at the edge of his office. Lex got to his feet.

"So, you decided to send a rocket through the window of one of my employees?" Lex asked in a conversational manner.

"Yes, she survived, I don't see the problem," the man in the shadows said in a gruff voice.

"I don't see the problem, I just want to know why you sought to do that, without asking me about it first," Lex said.

He chose his words carefully. He knew that the men that this gentleman was working with was completely and utterly dangerous.

"I thought that it would be a test to ensure that he was about as good as you thought that he would," the man in the shadows said. "And he is good, even one that is so young."

"It sounds like that you've met him before," Lex said.

"I will meet him," the man in the shadows commented. He reached forward and gave Lex a very important item encased in a briefcase. "Is this the item that you need?"

Lex paused and looked over things. He nodded in response. "Yes, this is exactly what I need. It will do a great job in powering the tower."

"I thought that it might," the man commented in response. He looked at Lex who was frowning. "Both of us are in this together, the tower will be built and it will be a marvel."

"Yes, one could call it that, yes," Lex replied. "So, our mysterious savior from the stars….do you think that he could be an asset?"

"I know that you want to look for answers," the man in the shadows said. "But trust me, it will be better off if he's taken out before he can grow into the person that he can be."

There was another frown that crossed Lex's face. People could say many things about Lex Luthor, but they couldn't say that he was stupid. He wasn't stupid at the slightest.

"You talk about him as if you've met him in the future," Lex answered. The man raised his eyebrow. "Have you?"

"I have ran into people who could be threats to humanity in the future," the man said. "I've traveled through some very interesting circles. And your destiny could be great, President Luthor."

Lex wondered if he should have said that. The thought intrigued him. He did wonder how much of a paycut and how much power he would have to give up to become the United States President. The thought did a wonderful job in intriguing him though.

"Well, I think that we're going to be living in an interesting world," Lex said. He wasn't sure if he could completely trust that man.

But he was always a man who make contingencies and make sure that he had a backup plan and followed that up to a backup with a backup.

"I always thought that you were an interesting man," the man said. "The Luthor I knew was a virtuous, and brave man, who was beloved by all."

"Well, then I'm going to have to help protect the world to live up to that responsibility," Lex said. "I believe that a wise man once said with great power there must also come great responsibility."

"Yes, indeed, and it's your responsibility to get that tower online so we can protect not only this world, but an infinite number of Earths," he said. "I've seen it, Superman will become corrupt from the power. Two normal individuals might be all that stands in the way between this and an alien menace taking us over."

"We'll see who the Alpha male is now."

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Carrying a Flame.**

* * *

A rough looking middle aged man with burn scars on his arms and the side of his face stepped forward. He was dressed in a red t-shirt and dark pants. One could see the scars on the back of his neck raising. He took out a cigarette and lit it in response. He placed it to his lips and dragged a puff from it.

He allowed the smoke to billow from his lips. He took another long drag from the cigarette and looked around.

There were many crates surrounding him and a few of them looked extremely flammable. It was so tempting to set them on fire, but he managed to keep himself from giving into his base impulses. His eyes shifted and he looked around.

The guy he was supposed to be meeting was extremely late. He paced around like a caged animal and took another long drag from his cigarette. Once it was done, he dropped it down to the ground and pressed his boot to it.

He didn't have a chance to take another one out, when another figure approached him. The man tensed up, a dark brooding figure in Gotham City brought back all sorts of bad memories for him. He had ran into the Bat a time or two in his prime and…..well it was an extremely bad time for him.

"Show yourself," he said in a raspy voice.

"Don't you know that smoking's bad for your health," a gruff voice said. "But, then again, you're used to playing with fire."

The man looked at the brooding figure in the shadows. It was partly out of contempt and even partly out of curiosity. "They're badges of honor….a true arsonist always has them."

"Garfield Lynns, better known as Firefly," the brooding figure said. "You are one of the premier arsonists in Gotham City. When a business wants everything to go up in flames so they can collect on the insurance money, they come to you."

"Yes, I'm damn good at what I do," Lynns answered. "But, you didn't call me here to flatter me, did it?"

"No, I didn't," the brooding figure said roughly. He handed a pamphlet into his hand.

"The new nightclub that the Kanes are opening up," Lynns replied. He shook his head when he flipped through it. "A pretty ritzy place….going to be a lot of new business and jobs into Gotham City…..and likely some of the best security on the planet. A place like that is going to have safeguards for fire….would be kind of hard to make it look like an accident, wouldn't it?"

"I'm not concerned about making it look like an accident," the brooding figure in the shadows responded. "I'm concerned about sending a message and if I can wipe out a few people who will be at the club opening, all the better."

"Normally, people want me to work after hours," Lynns said. He had some serious misgivings about this, and he could make a list of him. All he settled for the obvious. "It's going to be difficult to be discreet."

"I told you, I don't want discreet, I want results," the brooding figure said. "I'm willing to pay you enough money for you to retire, if that's what you desire."

"It's an enticing offer," Lynns commented. He stroked his goatee. "Most people don't want any causalities….they just want the insurance money or they want someone to lose money."

"Well, I'm not most people, Mr. Lynns," the man from the shadows commented. He looked towards Lynns with a casual and very narrowed eyed gaze. "I trust that isn't going to be a problem for you, is it?"

"No, it won't be a problem," Lynns said. He snapped his fingers and smiled. "In fact, the more people who feel the warm embrace of fire, the better it is?"

"Yes, I'm glad that you and I are along the same thoughts," the brooding figure in the shadows said. He threw a briefcase down onto the ground.

If there was one thing that Lynns liked more than fire, it was money. And he cracked the briefcase, to find stacks and stacks of crisp hundred dollar bills. He inhaled the scent of the money and shivered in excitement.

"And this is merely a down payment," the brooding specter said from the shadows. "When I see the results of your work, you get more of a bonus."

The man held the briefcase and chuckled. There were numerous ways where he could have gotten in and caused havoc and carnage.

"Just thinking about how I'm going to do this," Lynns said. "You know, some people just set things on fire, but…it takes a real art to do what I do."

The brooding shadow shook his head. Artists, they were really insufferable at times, especially Arsonist artists. They really did take a little bit too much pride in their work.

"Get the job done," the man commented to him. "Make sure I see a performance well worth my money."

He could see his enemy in action, before he hit his prime. Needless to say, the brooding figure found himself fairly intrigued by the direction that this was going.

Lynns prepared for a great night. The grand opening would be the grand closing. A bunch of spoiled and entitled people would be at that club and that rose his excitement.

* * *

Clark joined Kara, Helena, Lois, Chloe, Lana, Dinah, and Barbara on their way to the club.

Lana grinned when she pushed herself on the other side of Clark's right arm. Helena took his left arm rather casually and that got a few photo flashes.

"Just ignore them, they have no lives," Helena said.

"You know, it isn't every day that you see a man entering the club with a bunch of women," Lana said. She looked like she was milking every single moment of this.

Lois and Chloe locked eyes with each other. Chloe whistled. "So, are you wishing that Clark had a few extra arms to spare?"

"Really, it isn't just me then?" Lois asked. She sighed in response. That really was a relief, she thought that she was going insane with greed to be honest.

The doors of the club swung open. They ran into a gorgeous blonde girl in her mid-twenties with sparkling blue eyes, wearing a black dress. She turned to Helena with a wide grin to her and rushed over her.

"Helena, I'm so glad that you could make it," she said. She made her way towards Helena and hugged her tightly in response.

"It's good to see you, Bette, and I told you, I wouldn't miss it for the world, "Helena said. The bubbly blonde pulled herself away from Helena.

"Right, I know you said that, but you never know, with your job….I mean, you just never know," Bette said. She was babbling and she caught up in Clark. "Oh, and you must be Clark….you must be something special if you were able to tame Helena."

"I wouldn't say that I necessarily tamed her," Clark said. "It's a pleasure to meet you Bette."

"Oh, same to you…the pleasure is all mine," Bette said. "Why don't I go over and buy you a drink….you wouldn't believe the day I had been having?"

Bette grabbed Clark and led him over towards the counter. Lana and Helena looked at each other and Kara and Lois looked extremely amused at the scene before them.

"So, I guess that's Bette for you," Barbara said. She casually walked over to join the two of them at the bar with each other. Dinah followed both of them.

"I thought….well I thought that opening this club would be all fun and games," Bette answered. "But, it's a lot more work….getting things up to standards with the fire code…that was real nightmare."

"Well safety first," Clark said.

"Yes, I know," Bette said. She frowned when she saw some of Gotham's elite make their way to the club. It would be a bad breech of high society etiquette not to let them in, but at the same time, she was being extremely careful. And you couldn't really be too careful. "So, Helena has told me a lot about you….well mostly through her research about you, which….sounded a lot like stalking, even though I wouldn't blame her for being curious."

"I think that we were all curious," Dinah said. She leaned against Clark casually at the bar. "But, I think that you've exceeded all expectations….and I was wondering if you wanted to come back to my place tonight afterwards…..I want to test myself against someone with super powers, to see if I can go toe to toe with them."

Clark had no idea whether or not Dinah was talking about sparring or not.

"I'll be happy to go a few rounds with you," Clark informed her.

"Great, I'm glad that you're such a good sport," Dinah said. She wanted a piece of him and then afterwards, well they could have some real fun.

"Be careful, that's our strongest stuff," Bette said with a smile. "I feel like with some of this imported alcohol, we have to have a liability waver of some kind…"

"Well, I'm sure that it will really hit the spot," Dinah said. She smiled and took a drink. She shook her head, her hair growing wildly.

"Yeah, I'm going to take a piece of that," Lois said. She didn't know whether or not she could find a place to sit. Therefore, sitting on Clark's lap was the best spot.

"Hey, you stole my seat," Kara said, folding her arms with a pout.

"Sorry, you snooze you lose," Lois said. She pressed her lips together and gave Kara a mocking little kiss in response.

Lana smiled and she led Kara over. The two of them disappeared to check out the rest of the club with each other.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea to leave those two to their own devices together," Chloe commented. Lois shifted in Clark's lap and looked at him.

"About as good of an idea of leaving you and Barbara to your own devices, you might end up hacking the Pentagon or something," Lois said.

"Hmm, that sounds like a nice way to speed up a slow weekend," Barbara mused thoughtfully. It was hard enough to figure out whether she was being serious or whether she was just messing with people's heads right then and there.

"Please tell me, she's kidding about that," Lois said to Dinah. Dinah smiled when she looked at her.

"Just finish your drink, if you think that you can," Dinah said.

"Of course, I can, I've drank Marines under the table," Lois said.

"She has," Chloe confirmed.

Bette sighed and she turned to Clark. "So, are they like that all of the time."

"Actually a bit subdued all things considered," Clark said. There was a flicker of a smile crossing over Helena's face.

"Yes, they are," Helena agreed.

Bette was actually surprised to see Helena all smiling and happy. It was a remarkable change of face from the sourpuss that she normally was. She couldn't believe it, actually there was a part of her who could believe it.

"Do I have something on my face?" Helena asked her.

"Yes, a smile," Bette commented. She looked on with awe. "That's really surprising, you know that?"

"Yes, I figured that it might be," Helena said.

Clark frowned. Perhaps it had been the past couple of weeks finally getting to him, but he saw a figure in the shadows dressed in a trench coat. He saw the man slinking through the back of the club, like he was trying to creep around.

The man had scars over his hands, like it had been burned several times. Clark frowned when he walked forward.

"Excuse me, Lois, I need to go….take care of something," Clark said.

Lois was surprised, but she didn't really say anything. She wondered if Clark heard some distress signal. He wouldn't be the person she fell for.

Helena noticed the figure moving in the shadows. She heard a loud explosion that caused everyone to jump bolt up.

* * *

There was fire and an insane amount of it. There were the screams of people when the night club went up in flames.

Clark looked around and could spot the man making his way towards the exit. Kara nodded and she fired her heat vision at the sprinklers, busting them open. Water caused the flames to be put out, at least partially.

The scent coming from the fire caused Clark to stagger backwards in response. It was some kind of super-hot fire accelerant that was shooting flames up in the air. His heart skipped a few beats, several beats in fact.

He tried to get in as close as he could and he decided that his super breath would be the best thing in the world.

Kara scooped up the fire extinguishers in her hand and threw them up into the air. She slammed her fists into them and caused them to crack, putting the fire out.

Thankfully, Helena, Barbara, and Dinah managed to get everyone out the door into the club. Clark looked around and saw a man standing towards the back of the club near the fire exit. It must have been the arsonist, who was insane enough to stick around and take a close enough look at his handy work.

Clark rushed in front of him. The man stepped back and doused Clark with the lighter fluid. The flames shot up on his body and incinerated his clothes! He stood there, flying towards the arsonist, while in flames.

"What the hell are you?" he asked and Clark grabbed him by the throat.

"I could ask you the same question," Clark said. He hurled him over onto the stage and there were only a few fragments of tattered and burned clothes after he spun the fire out of himself. "Who sent you here?"

He tried to use his lighter fluid again, but Kara ripped it from his grasp, along with his lighters. The man thrashed his arms on the table and gave an agonizing cough when he rocked himself back and forth on the table.

"So, are you going to talk or aren't you?" Clark asked.

The man shook his head. "Forget it, I'm not telling the likes of you anything. I'd rather burn."

Clark thought about using his heat vision, but he held himself up. Kara reached in and calmly grabbed him a fresh pair of clothes from the bag that she had. He turned towards her and she shrugged. "Always helps to be prepared."

Clark wasn't about to argue with her on that point. Now that he was dressed, he bared his gaze down onto the gentlemen in question. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, I was just trying to make an honest living," the man said. "I was trying to….introduce people to the warm embrace of fire."

"His name is Garfield Lynns and he's an arsonist….who got a little too close to the fire and suffered seventy degree burns on most of his body."

The Huntress turned up and she looked at Lynns. Her gaze was fairly humorless when she peered down on him. It was one of those "you're going to talk, or else" kind of looks that some people dreaded when they saw them.

"I don't know who hired me the guy….well he never gave me his name," Lynns said. He swallowed a lump in his throat when he shifted against her. He was fairly aware that he was going to be introduced to the business end of her crossbow if he didn't fess up pretty quickly. "He was one of those…..well he seemed to want to see a lot of people burn and he was willing to pay me a lot of money."

She slammed him down onto the table. Huntress pulled back and she turned towards Clark. "Everyone got out okay….and we're really going to have to think about getting you some kind of costume if you're going to make this a regular habit."

Clark was glad on that first point that she made. And as for the second point she made, well he would have to keep that in mind, wouldn't he? Regardless, he was pretty glad that everyone was safe.

* * *

"Well, there wasn't that much bad damage," Bette concluded. She shook her head. "And everyone….they got out more or less okay. The bad…..news is….well the bad news can be pretty bad, when the press gets ahold of this."

Helena stood next to her. "I'm sure it won't be too bad."

"Yeah, you're right, it could have been worse," Bette said. She actually saw her life flash before her eyes. "So, how are you and Clark really….how are you really going?"

"We're fine," Helena said.

"I noticed that he's with a bunch of other women….you don't find that odd?" Bette asked. She wasn't trying to say anything bad about it, but she was a bit curious.

"Everyone is in on it," Helena informed her.

"You mean its….mutual," Bette said. "He must be something if he was able to satisfy that many women….without killing each other."

"He is something alright," Helena said. "He's meeting with Dinah right now…..I'm sure the GCPD will be by to talk to you about what happened."

"They can't think, they can't think that I had anything to do with this, do they?" Bette asked. She sounded a bit nervous and Helena smiled when she looked towards her cousin. "Yeah, I know, I'm worrying about nothing, aren't I?"

"Pretty much, yes," Helena answered. She saw some of the GCPD's finest make their way inside. She smiled when they approached. "I'll be here for you….if you need be here."

"You are always there, aren't you?" she asked. "So, when is it my turn with Clark?"

"I'm going to have to run that by a few people," Helena said. Bette pouted in response and she folded her arms.

X-X-X

Clark was dressed in a nice white shirt and a tight of workout pants. He made his way to a makeshift gym in the center of the basement of Dinah's apartment.

Dinah walked out in front of him and to say that she was stunning would be putting things mildly. She stepped towards him, dressed in a tight black sports bra and black shorts. She ditched the fish nets, which Clark was both disappointed and relieved at the same time. She had a pair of nice workout shoes on.

"So, how much have you trained outside your powers?" Dinah asked.

"A little bit, but not as much as I would have liked," Clark informed her.

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Dinah said. "Well, I guess the best way to learn is by example. Show me what you got."

He threw his punch at her, not enough to hurt her, but enough to get her attention. Dinah grabbed his hand turned him around and flipped him to the ground.

"I'm not stronger than you obviously," Dinah said. She reached forward and helped Clark up to his feet. "But, you gave me a lot of momentum where I….well for lack of a better term, I ended up throwing you flat on your ass."

"I think that's a pretty good description," Clark answered.

The two of them got into a sparring stance. Dinah fired a series of punches and kicks towards him. Clark managed to block a great deal of them and avoided some of them. Others, he wasn't really able to avoid all that much.

He decided to flip her onto the ground and land on top of her.

"Very good," Dinah said. She wrapped her legs and rolled Clark over onto the ground, so she straddled on the top of him. "But, that wasn't as good as it could have been."

"No, I guess not," Clark said. He could feel her curves press up against him.

Dinah smiled, she let up on him. She was having a bit too much fun and that could cost her big time of Clark got his head in the game. Then again, it might be a bit exciting to be dominated at once.

She dodged some punches.

"You telegraph things a bit too soon," Dinah informed him. "Not bad against your garden variety thugs, but for someone….for someone who knows what they're doing, not as bad."

Dinah flipped over the top of his head and then grabbed him. She took him down to the ground with a smile.

"But, if an enemy finds a disadvantage and exploits it….they can really put you underneath their thumb," Dinah said. She ran her fingers over the bulge in Clark's pants. "Well, I enjoyed the foreplay, didn't you?"

"Not sure if getting my ass kicked qualifies as foreplay," Clark said.

"Oh, but I made you hard enough, so I think it counts," Dinah said. She wrapped her hand around him, barely fitting in his tight pants. "So, are you ready to find out how much of a screamer I can be?"

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five: The Benefactor.**

* * *

Helena perched herself up at the top window of a warehouse. She used a glass cutting to cut a hole through the glass and she pushed herself down the hole. She dangled down the hole and dropped down. She landed on a platform.

Lynns was rather terrified regarding this man and that made Helena extremely intrigued. He was the same man who was working with Luthor regarding whatever his plan was. Helena was pretty much sure of it. This was the same placed where Lynns swore up and down that he met with his benefactor and she believed it.

She made her way behind a pillar and slumped through the shadows. She kept walking forward.

There was a red dot at the side of her head. A loud bang echoed and Helena crouched her head down and ducked it. The bullet hit the side of the pillar when she did a forward roll. She crouched against the barrier, her heart beating even quicker when she moved.

Okay, someone was trying to kill her. That was seldom a good time. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. She wondered if there was anyone out there. She lifted her hand in the air and threw a pellet into the shadows.

The bang resounded and created a cloud of smoke. There was no one there. Helena wondered if someone set a trap for her.

"So, any luck?" Barbara asked.

"No," Helena said. She could feel her heart racing extremely fast. She turned around and looked above her.

He dropped down from the ceiling right in front of her. That caused Helena to stagger back half of a step and her mouth to hang open when she was greeted by this figure. He was dressed in black armor, with a symbol on his chest. It resembled a demented looking owl with glowing eyes. He had a stoic look on his face that remind him of someone.

"So, you've taken after your father, have you?" the man asked. He rushed towards Helena and knocked her back.

He jumped up, but Helena dodged it. He expertly landed on the ground and shot an iron cable at her. She dodged it and it was put through a crate. He retracted it back in response and chuckled.

"You know, you're pretty smart, but if you were a bit smarter, you would stay out of this," he said. He hurled a grenade at her. Helena jumped onto the rafters and flipped into the air. He caught her foot, turned it and slammed her down to the ground. She hit the ground with a solid oof, knocking the wind out of her. "And not bad, not bad at all, but I'm better."

He jumped up and drove his fist down onto the back of her head. Her limbs twitched in every single direction.

"You are nothing, but a distraction until I take control of this world," the man said.

Helena adjusted a dial and a sonic pulse resounded. It summoned several bats through an open window at him and caused him to stagger back.

"Clever," he said.

"Yeah, wish I could say the same about you," Helena said. She tried to pull herself to her feet, but she remembered her ankle was snapped.

She was kicked hard in the face, which left a bruise.

"I wouldn't be the one that would speak arrogantly with how injured you are," he said. He rushed forward and kicked her hard.

She activated the gauntlet in her glove and nailed him with a swift pulse of electricity which doubled him over. Helena blitzed him with a couple of stinging punches, but he went behind her and nailed her again.

"Just who are you?" she spat.

"Call me Owlman, he said. He nailed her hard again, but she tried to get back to her feet. "I feel that it's worthwhile that you learn the name of the person that's going to destroy her."

Helena felt like she had been battered and bruised several times over. Her blurred over vision spotted Owlman when he looked at her and she took a swing of him. He stepped back and allowed her to punch at the air, which honestly didn't do anything.

"Spirit, I like that," Owlman said. He kicked her and stood on her chest, pinning her down to the ground. "Maybe, I have some uses for you anyway."

There was a thump and Black Canary turned up. Owlman's gaze turned towards her and a frown appeared over his face. "Well, this is an interesting development, isn't it?"

Black Canary decided to use her Canary Cry to back off Owlman. He ducked his head and jumped up behind her.

"Things are getting a bit crowded in here," Owlman said. He activated a device on his watch and something flew in with a blur.

Owlman was flown off as quick as could be and Black Canary and Huntress were left down. Dinah extended her hand forward and helped Helena up to her feet. Her ankle looked to be slightly damaged, but she held her up.

"I'll be fine, just got to get me patched up," Helena said.

"So, I'm not the only one who saw that right," Dinah said. Helena frowned when he spoke to her. "We better tell Clark about this."

"My thoughts exactly," Helena said. She tried to put weight on her ankle, but she needed Helena to hold her up so she didn't fall.

* * *

Clark thought that he was going to leave Gotham pretty soon, but he couldn't leave just yet. He was invited by Helena to a huge press conference featuring Lex Luthor and her father. He looked towards Helena, who was walking with a bit of a limp. The good thing was that she was doing an excellent job in disguising the pain that she was in. She closed her eyes when she turned towards Clark.

"For the record, I'm fine, just a bit sore," Helena said.

Clark already knew what Helena ran into last night and didn't need to press her on the finer details of that.

"So, there's another one out there like me," Clark commented.

"Yes," Helena confirmed. She was trying to shut out the pain that she was feeling. She felt a little better now that she treated her foot, but steps were her enemy. "I'm fine."

"If you insist," Clark said. He thought that the Waynes had one thing in common and that was how stubborn they were during certain circumstances.

Helena made her way towards the plaza where the press conference was. She could see that the press was here in full view of them all, and obviously the elite of Gotham City would be out in full force this evening.

Clark was interested in this. He got a chance to meet the gentleman who seemed to have so much interest in him and he wasn't sure that the interest was healthy.

He could see Helena tense up and sure enough, her father would be here. He noticed Clark and Helena and made his way over to greet both of them.

"Mr. Kent, it's an honor to see you again," Bruce said in his low voice. He crouched down when he spoke to him. "I heard that you've made some headlines at the Kane night club opening the other night."

"Doing what you would have done," Clark answered. "But not exactly."

"Helena's told you, hasn't she?" Bruce asked. Helena raised her eyebrow at him and she could see an argument about ready to happen between the two of them. "It's just as well, because….well going back out onto the field right now is a fool's errand. Even if the mission isn't over."

Helena's eyebrow twitched a little bit. He always talked about his mission. The mission would never be over if he had anything to say about it. Regardless, she gave her father an extremely polite smile and a nod to go with it. She leaned back against the wall and sighed.

"So, Luthor is going to be here today," Clark said.

Bruce looked at him, almost as if he was trying to figure out how much he should say to Clark about this. He frowned extremely deeply and nodded. "Yes, he's been wanting to move into Gotham. And he wants to partner with Wayne."

"But, you have misgivings, don't you?" Clark asked.

"It's a publically run company, it's not my vote that's the final one," Bruce said.

Clark shivered at how cold his tone was. It was extremely obvious that he had misgivings about this, Clark didn't need any kind of super powered senses to read between the lines.

Bruce wasn't done with Clark just yet. "You and I, we need to talk, privately."

Clark raised his eyebrow, but he nodded. Bruce lead him off into a nearby office and made sure to shut the door behind him.

Helena frowned. She really hoped that Clark would leave that room. It wasn't doing her mind that good to see her boyfriend being left alone with her father.

"Not even my daughter will be able to listen in now," Bruce said.

"If she's anything like you, I'm sure that she'll try, sir," Clark answered.

"There was another one, just like you and the Danvers girl," Bruce said. "Or is she Kent by now?"

"Yes, Kent," Clark answered. "There is….."

"But I'm sure that you knew about that, Huntress and Black Canary ran into her last night, when she got….Owlman out of there," Bruce answered. That caused Clark to raise his eyebrow. "Just because I'm not able to fight on the field, does not mean that I'm not able to be a detective."

"I never said anything along those lines, sir," Clark answered in a respective manner. "So, what did you find out?"

"Owlman….we've encountered with each other, he runs the Crime Syndicate, a league of super powered criminals with the intention of taking over the world," Bruce said. "And Owlman is the most feared of them all, despite having no powers. He's a ruthless criminal mastermind."

"And he's working with Luthor," Clark murmured.

"A huge mistake for Luthor," Bruce replied. "Luthor thinks of himself as a genius, but….he's out of his league against Owlman. Owlman wants something that LuthorCorp is developing, a gateway to cross through other worlds."

"So, why can't we just go shut down this gateway and stop him from using it?" Clark asked.

"Because, I haven't been able to locate it," Bruce said.

"So, that's why you're not fighting the deal with Luthor, you want access to his records and his company," Clark said.

Bruce nodded. "Very good, you're learning."

The two men stood in silence. Bruce decided to bring up another point. "So, what are you intentions regarding my daughter?"

* * *

There was a part of Lois who thought that she should honestly know better before now. She frowned deeply when she made her way the hotel/office that Luthor was using to conduct his business out of in Metropolis.

She made her way over. There was still a large hole in the wall from the other night.

She frowned, she forgot about Clark's near fatal encounter with a rocket launcher. Well, it wouldn't be near fatal because of his super powers. But that would be splitting some unfortunate hairs as far as Lois was concerned.

She spotted a filing cabinet at the end of a hallway. Lois stepped forward and wondered. Dare she hope that they left any important details here for her to take a look at, at her own convenience? She hoped that there might be something for her to uncover. Right now, she couldn't be for certain though.

She arrived at the edge of the filing cabinet, and her frown deepened. She thought that it had been recently opened.

"You're going to need a key to open that, not that you'd find anything in there."

Lois turned around and spotted a red haired woman standing there. She was looking at Lois with her green eyes, which were narrowed.

"Tess, I presume," Lois commented. Her tone was cool and cordial, but it was obvious that she was looking towards the woman with a critical eye. "Did you decide to come back to the scene of the crime, or something?"

"Amusing," Tess commented. "Given that I was nearly blown to pieces here as well."

"Perhaps, Lex was having a bad hair day," Lois replied.

Tess didn't respond with her. "He's….he sent you here, didn't you? Some snoopy high school student, that's who he sent here, isn't it?"

"And what makes you think that I'm not perfectly capable of getting into trouble on my own," Lois said. "And….I would be a Freshman in college, if I didn't get expelled in my senior year in high school if some idiot wasn't asking for it."

"Oh, I see," Tess answered. Her lips curled into a soft smile. "My mistake, then."

"You made a lot of mistakes, it seems lately," Lois answered. "What is Lex up to?"

"He hasn't really told me, he's keeping a lot of cards close to his chest," Tess said. She looked at Lois. "And if I knew what he was up to, I wouldn't tell you."

"Guess, I'm going to have to find out myself," Lois said. She realized something instantly and looked Tess straight in the eye. "So, if there's nothing here, then why did you come back to the scene of the crime?"

Tess looked at Lois. It was almost like she was trying to debate whether or not to shove her through the busted hole in the wall and make it look like an accident. She decided it wouldn't be worth the trouble. Mostly because she figured that there would be someone buzzing around to catch her and Tess didn't think that she could handle the heat.

"I didn't return to the scene of the crime, I was hoping….well I was hoping if I could find some answers on my own," Tess answered.

Lois smiled. "Were you hoping to find answers of your own, or were you hoping to….run into someone here?"

Tess didn't respond, but that was perfectly fine with Lois. She pretty much got all of the things.

"Lex isn't the future of the world, I can see what the future is," Tess said.

"Did you come to that conclusion before or after he nearly atomized you with a rocket launcher?" Lois asked. Tess looked towards her with a frown on her face.

"I really don't expect you to believe me, but do know this, things are going to change," Tess said. She handed Lois something. "I don't think that I have to tell you that this is only for his eyes and no one else's."

"Sure, I'll pass it on," Lois answered. "But, you owe me."

"Trust me, if the world is going to be saved, you're the one that's going to owe me," Tess said. "I don't expect you to agree with me though, but tell him that it's urgent that we meet up, whenever you can pass it onto him."

Tess left instantly and left Lois standing there in the hotel room. She pondered the woman's words and how legit they were.

Lois found herself in two minds. The first mind was there was a pretty good chance this woman was on the level, but then again, she had her own agenda. It wasn't against Clark, at least she thought, but she wouldn't mind using him as a means to oust Lex and raise herself up another level.

At least that's how Lois figured. Corporate politics were something that she seldom had any time to figure out. Her frown deepened when she waited for her pickup to come.

"I can't leave you alone for five minutes, without you getting in trouble," Kara said. She flew over and Lois frowned. "So, did you find out anything?"

"Not entirely," Lois admitted in a begrudging voice. Kara extended her arm and wrapped her around her. "Tess Mercer gave me a note to hand off to Smallville though….I'm not completely sure that she's in the market for a super powered booty call though."

Kara knew that Lois would tell her all about it, when she flew out of there.

* * *

Lex Luthor passed his security voice and made his way across the stage. He saw the surly old man that was Bruce Wayne waiting for him. His hand wrapped around the handle of the cane that he was holding.

"Mr. Wayne, it's good to see you up and on your feet," Lex said.

"Mr. Luthor," Bruce said.

"That was my father, call me Lex," Lex answered. He gave him what he perceived to be a charming smile, but the smile looked like of creepy and unsettling to say the least.

"Very, well, Lex, I've looked over your business proposal and I must say, I'm intrigued," Bruce said.

"I should hope so, with the press conference looming in about ten minutes," Lex said. "I have to ask, what changed your mind. I'm grateful, but you've been working hard to keep LuthorCorp out of Gotham."

"I thought about it, and think that working together is best for business and best for the world," Bruce answered.

"Sentiments that I can't argue with," Lex said. He looked over and saw that there was a packed house for the press conference. "It's time for us to perform our civic duty, and talk to the press."

"After you," Bruce answered. He waved his hand and Lex stepped forward onto the stage.

He made his way to the microphone stand and made sure that the microphone worked properly. He cleared his throat a couple of times.

Bruce was offered a chair by one of the aides, but he declined it. Despite his hip and his knee killed him because of Gotham's notorious weather. He leaned back and waited for Lex to have his say.

"Gotham City is like a rough piece of coal," Lex commented. "On the edges, it seems unrefined, but it's a source of great power if you have the ability to use it right. And it can be refined into a diamond with the simplest expert touch."

There was a sound of a bugle horn playing and Lex's gaze looked forward. He could see a large Jack in the Box being wheeled out, being marched side by side with men who was dressed like toy soldiers.

"Security!" Lex ordered. He didn't know what nonsense this was, but this was Gotham City, therefore the freaks were out in abundance.

Bruce frowned, he speculated that there was someone who was going to cause trouble, but who, that was the question. He stepped forward on his cane, but one of the security guards stepped in his way.

"Stand back, Mr. Wayne."

That was the problem with security. They were necessary to protect the people, but they were a hindrance to people trying to lend a helping hand.

The toy soldiers stepped back and the press had to be held back. Lex made his way down the set of steps towards the jack in the box.

"Stand by," Lex said. He wanted some room.

The crank on the jack in the box started to grind on its own accord and there was a soothing melody that played.

He stepped forward and made his way towards the box. The box cracked open to reveal a rather creepy looking head. It looked like the idealized version of some child, but it was entering extremely unsettling territory.

A blast of purple gas caught Lex in the face. The bald man coughed when he was doubled over. The gas didn't kill him, but it knocked him out.

"He isn't dead, don't worry," a man said when he walked forward. He approached the down man. "He'll be lucky not to be dead though when I'm through with him."

Security made their way over, but the henchmen shot them with the guns. They dropped down to the ground.

Another round of toy soldiers burst through the doors, although these appeared to be robots of some sort. At least, that's what anyone who was watching could figure because the General controlled them with a remote control device.

They marched in two by two and placed their weapons on the members of the press. The General lifted up Lex by the jaw.

"So, you're paralyzed, you can't move," the man said. "Now, you know how my father felt, when yours took everything from him. But, your Father's dead, so the sins on the father will have to be paid by the son."

Lex looked at the man and he didn't recognize him. He could only speak due to his voluntary muscles not working.

"Look, if you want money…."

"Money won't solve what I want, money doesn't buy me my playtime," the man said. "The Toyman is not amused by you trying to end the game before it really starts. You're going to suffer, and you're going to pay for your war crimes."

Clark watched from the crowd. He was going to have to pick his spots carefully. He saw Helena meet his eyes and mutter. "Follow my lead."

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Sleeping With the Enemy.**

* * *

Toyman watched the scene around him. He could see some of his robotic soldiers being taken down in a blur of light and civilians being escorted out of there. His frown deepened when he looked over everything.

His playtime was getting interrupted, and that was one thing that the Toyman could not stand. He peered forward and took a long look at all of the enemies that was around him. The bald man known as Lex Luthor was a dangerous person. He might not be his father, but the sins of the father must be paid for by the son and he would pay, in full interest.

Toyman's fingers curled together and he clicked his tongue. His father was a brilliant inventor, who managed to bedazzle people with his inventions. He made toys that brought joy and excitement into the lives of many children.

That joy and excitement was dashed when Lionel Luthor put him out on the street. He had framed him for a crime that he didn't commit. Young Winslow was forced on the street, he had all of his toys taken away from him.

He had inherited his father's creativity and he bounced back and bounced back hard. He snapped his fingers with glee when he brought in a large soldier.

"You see the enemy, he is here, take him out!" Toyman yelled.

Clark managed to get most of the people out of here. He still had to deal with these overgrown toy soldiers who marched towards him. He felt the toy soldier charge him as fast as it could, trying to run him through.

Clark avoided the swift attack and jumped on the back of the toy soldier. He took it down.

Several of the goons rushed forward. They tried to take out Helena. She dodged their punches and flipped one of them on the ground. A rocket buster of an uppercut knocked one of the goons onto their back.

"Heads up!" Clark yelled.

Helena turned around and drilled her enemy in the jaw with a very stiff back handed punch. He fell to the ground, a busted up mouth given for his troubles.

"You can't stop our playtime!" one of the soldiers yelled. Helena stepped back and fired an arrow at his wrist. It caused him to double over in pain.

She swung her leg towards him and took him down with a huge cracking kick to the face. She stepped back. She felt Clark take out another one. Kara turned up, at least that's what she could see out of the corner of her eye.

The goon fell down onto the ground and Helena turned around.

Toyman looked down at the downed form of Lex. While revenge might be sweet, self-preservation might even be even sweeter.

He saw the young man, who Lex was so interested in, charge out in front of him. "The game's over."

"Oh, then we're going to play a new game," Toyman said. He lifted up a pair of symbols and crashed them together.

Clark found himself rocked. His head was ringing when he was knocked backwards. He landed on his knees, his breath rocked out of his body. He tried as he might to lift his head up, but he found that was more difficult than he thought it was.

"I'm not sure if you like that game," Toyman said. He smiled when he kicked him in the chest.

Clark blocked his hand and lifted him up. "Oh, I hate it when you play rough."

Toyman was lifted high onto the ground and hurled off of the stage. He rolled over with an oof. It was obvious that this young man didn't hurl him as hard as he could. Otherwise every single one of his ribs would have been shattered when he hit the ground.

"We've got a problem," Kara said.

Clark saw the doors burst open and the soldiers made their way inside. It was obvious that Toyman had an entire army of them.

Now he had pretty much all of people out of there, he could focus on the situation at hand.

Lex's bodyguards rushed over and lifted him off of the ground. "We have to get you out of here, Mr. Luthor."

"Yes, you do," Lex said. He felt his legs dangle against the ground. He could barely pick himself up off of the ground.

He wished that he could see his adversary in action, but it was getting to be too dangerous.

Toyman frowned when he saw Lex leave. He whistled and saw a helicopter parked outside. He pulled his way inside it.

"You broke my toys!" Toyman yelled. He activated a switch on the console. "I HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE BREAK MY TOYS!"

He activated a section of the helicopter and he aimed for his enemy. He started to fire a set of rockets at him.

Clark dodged the rockets. He could have cursed. The civilians might have been put in danger.

"What a psychopathic manchild," Helena murmured. She figured that he had an adult intelligence, but his maturity and emotional development was much lower than that.

She flipped a little disc device out of her hand. It latched against the edge of the helicopter when it flew out.

"A tracking device," Helena said.

"Well, you're always one step ahead, aren't you?" Clark asked her. Helena turned towards her and gave a smile in response. He offered her his hand. It really was the safest way to travel, honestly speaking.

* * *

Toyman returned to his hideout in an extremely towering temper. He was going to throw a tantrum. His revenge, it was stopped.

The hideout resembled a child's room. It had a lot of childish artifacts on it and it looked to be in a great amount of disarray. He frowned when he looked over everything. Toyman reared his head back.

He saw the bust he created of Lex Luthor. He created several of them and he used them all as target practice. He picked up an energy cannon and locked it on the bust. He fired at it, causing it to blow to smithereens. Dust and debris flew when Toyman stepped back and looked on it, frowning in response.

"The Toyman is not happy, that his game was interrupted," Toyman said. "Why doesn't that mean boy fly away, fly all of the way? He's nothing, but a bully, always breaking my toys. Just like they took all my toys away from me."

Toyman made his way over to a workbench where he was working on another toy. This toy could bring most of Gotham City down. All he had to do was just activate it.

"Lexy, Lexy, you've been a bad little Lexy," Toyman commented. He shook his head and he looked up at the newspaper in response. It had Lex's picture. "You think that you're so great, well you're not great, you're not great, you're nothing…but a bastard!"

He clapped his hand over his mouth, unable to believe that he said such a cruel word.

He could hear something. One of his alarms had been triggered. Toyman reached over and switched on the camera feed. His eyes widened and his fists curled up. He threw his head back and breathed in and out heavily.

"They always have to intrude, they call themselves heroes, but they're bullies," Toyman answered. He rocked himself back and forth in response.

Clark showed up at the edge of the entrance, with Helena and Kara joining him. The trio stepped forward and Toyman looked at him.

"It's over," Clark informed him.

"You all keep telling me that, as if you have any right to intrude on my play time!" Toyman said. "I think that you need a time out!"

Toyman threw a switch and an energy field appeared around them. Clark rushed towards them and he bounced back. The energy field knocked him backward and knocked the wind out of him.

"Oh, that's impulsive, isn't it?" Kara asked him.

Clark frowned and Kara reached behind her. She assisted Clark in getting up to his feet. He rose towards his feet.

"I could use that energy dome to crush you all," Toyman said. He sounded rather sinister, and had gone far away from the childish innocence. "If you would have had let me execute Luthor, none of this would have happened."

"Honestly, you could have had the chance to do so, but you chose not to," Clark replied. That caused Toyman's mouth to open up, becoming wide.

"I see," Toyman said.

"You're not a killer," Clark said.

"You're nothing but a scared child, just crying out for your Daddy," Helena said.

Toyman placed his hands on the side of his face. He started breathing in and out to the point where he was hyper ventilating. "No, you're wrong, no you're wrong, you are wrong, really wrong, no you're wrong."

His breathing escalated when he looked at them both.

"You're wrong," Toyman responded. His teeth gritted when he looked at them. "YOU ARE WRONG!"

"No, you're the one that's wrong," Helena said. She was waiting for this right moment. "Oracle, are you in there?"

"Yes, full control of his little playhouse is now at your gauntlet," Barbara said. She looked to be a little bit triumphant. Her arms folded and her grin widened. "I think that it's time to take away his toys, because he's been a bad boy."

"I'm ahead of you," Helena answered. She activated the device of her gauntlet.

Toyman jumped back and he felt something nail him right in the face. That being Kara's fist. He was knocked down onto the ground. He felt himself go to the ground with a thud and the wind had been taken out of him.

"Well, that's the end of him," Kara said. "All we got to do is put his butt into….."

"I'm not sure if prison is the next place that he's going," Clark said. He turned around and looked at Kara, a frown going on his face. He could hear something humming and the humming got even louder.

Clark bent down and he adjusted the back of his neck. There was a chip and it was signing. The chip looked to be busted. Toyman, as it turned out, was merely just a toy himself.

"The real deal must be out there somewhere," Helena said.

"Maybe," Clark admitted. He wasn't sure about this. There was something rather staged about this entire attack, now that he thought about it. There was just a lot of convenience about this entire attack.

"Yes, you're learning if you're thinking what I think that you're thinking," Helena said. Clark pursed his lips and nodded. "And you are, you are thinking what I think that you're thinking."

"I think that you're right," Clark said. They made sure to look around. There was a pretty good chance that the real Toyman was here.

The robot's eyes glowed red before it finally died down. It was the victim of an extremely faulty AI that was taken out, pretty much just like that. Clark smelled a rat and the rat was named Lex Luthor.

* * *

Lana Lang frowned deeply. She thought about all that what happened. She never thought that things would go this direction, but she was pretty much glad that she did. She could feel Clark's hands on her waist and he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"So, nice night," Lana said. She felt Clark's face press against the back of her redhead. "Especially for Gotham City."

"I'd have to agree," Clark answered. He pulled away from her and turned her around. Clark leaned towards her and pulled her into a sensational kiss. Lana's lips pressed against his when the two of them exchanged a passionate kiss.

"Yes, I think that we get home, the two of us…..are going to have to make up for some lost time," Lana said. She smiled. "Just because I'm sharing you, doesn't mean that I get cut out of the one on one time."

"No, there's no reason at all," Clark said. "But, we might have to wait until we get back home."

"Which….will be tomorrow," Lana said. She frowned and was struck with another thought. "Providing of course nothing really bad happens."

"That's really causing you to get screwed over," Chloe said. She joined the two of them on the edge of the balcony. "That's the thing about Murphy. He will screw you over at the worst possible time so it's wise not to say anything bad."

"You just had to rain on parade," Lana said. Chloe smiled when she looked back at Lana. "Oh, and that's kind of your job, I know."

"Yes, I know," Chloe said. She wrapped her arm around Lana and smiled. Clark wrapped his arm around her as well.

"Hey, Clark, I need to talk to you for a minute!" Lois called from the other room. Clark could sense from Lois's tone that it was pretty urgent, so he made his over way to talk to her.

Lois was looking at him when he entered. Clark smiled when he approached her. "Yes, Lois, what is it?"

"Well, I was looking around, to see if I could find out anything that Luthor was up to," Clark said.

Clark's eyebrow raised when he looked towards Lois. "You didn't, did you?"

"Yes, I did," Lois fired back. Clark looked at her. "It might not have been the smartest idea in the world, but, that's just what I do, and I really don't regret doing it."

"If you risked your life, did you find anything?" Clark asked her.

Lois hung her head and looked a little remorse. "Absolutely…not, sadly, I really wished that I did, but I honestly didn't. But, I did find someone. Tess Mercer….she got a small taste of you, and I think that she wants the entire package."

Clark found himself intrigued and he was suspicious at the same time. It was a real paradox of the mind and he couldn't figure out what he thought.

"So, are you thinking trap?" Lois asked. She blinked. "Yeah, I'm supposed to give you this."

Lois extended her hand and handed Clark the note that Tess gave her. He opened the note and caused it to fall out into his hands.

"I'll be right back," Clark said.

He spend off quicker than a speeding bullet. He could reach where Tess told him. It had been about a day since Tess handed Lois the note, so he honestly hoped that she was still there. He would find out whether or not she was still there in a moment.

Tess looked up from the desk in her bedroom. She was writing a note about something. She looked up and saw him standing there.

"So, you got my note?" Tess asked.

"Yes, I did," Clark said.

"I know what you're thinking," Tess answered. Clark gave her a side long look and she smiled. "You're thinking that I'm playing some game….well I'm not. I want you to take a look at this."

She pulled out a flashdrive and plugged it into the port of the computer on her desk. It flashed to light and it was security footage. It was of Owlman and it was from a woman who looked like she could be Clark's sister. She had dark hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a pair of tight pants that looked like they could be rather eye catching.

"Just like you, only with a few obvious differences, isn't she?" Tess asked. "How open are you to the possibilities of there being alternate dimensions?"

Clark smiled when he looked at Tess. "You'd be surprised how much I'd believe in the possibility. Given all that I've seen, it has to be possible."

"Lex might have what he needs to bring it online," Tess answered. She smiled. "The only problem is that I'm not sure where it's being held."

"Where what's being held?" Clark asked her.

Tess smiled. "There's some kind of portal device Lex has created. He said that it has the ability to tap into over worlds, both of this universe and universes beyond. But, there's just one problem regarding it."

"And what's that problem?" Clark asked.

"Without the proper power source, it looks like an oversized laser light show," Tess said. "It's extremely pretty, but what does it do?"

Tess made her way closer towards Clark. She touched her hand onto his chest and smiled.

"You know, before we were rudely interrupted, we were about to get to know each other better than before," Tess answered. She fiddled with the button on his shirt and adjusted it. Her lips curled into a nice grin.

"I thought that you were working with Lex," Clark said.

"Oh, that, means to an end, really," Tess said. "I heard…heard about you, and….well I know that you're the future. I've always been progressive thinking, I've wanted to be on the ground floor."

Tess leaned towards him and she kissed him heatedly on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her and his hands found her ass, squeezing it through her tight leather pants.

"Take me," Tess said. A couple of buttons on her blouse unbuttoned, to reveal her cleavage. "Show me, what kind of man you are."

"You don't want to wait, do you?" Clark asked.

"Not for you, baby," Tess commented, smiling deeply. She pulled off his belt, grinding against him all of the way. "And I don't even have to ask if that's for me. You can reward me like a good girl, or punish me like your bad girl. It's your choice really."

Clark smiled, he had a clear idea what choice he wanted to take.

* * *

Lex reclined back in his chair. The newspaper discussing what occurred today was right in front of his face. He hated to say that he was having a good night, but the good press made up for the embarrassment that he experimented.

"Good press for a change?"

Lex turned his head a slight angle to the side. He saw Owlman turn up and approach him.

"And now, your business deal is going to go through without a hitch and you're going to be riding a new wave of sympathy," Owlman said. He paused and added a crisp response. "You're welcome for that, by the way."

"I'm afraid I don't…follow you," Lex said. He trailed off suddenly. "You crafty bastard."

Owlman frowned and nodded. "I figured that you would have a good idea what was going on, well done."

"Yes," Lex said. "It's ready, by the way."

Owlman relaxed and he pointed his hand towards the door. "Lead the way, then, Mr. Luthor."

He thought that this partnership was really getting off of the ground. It would be a shame when it was brought to an end. He stepped forward and made his way down the hallway, following Lex.

There was no one here, except for a pair of inattentive security guards. The two of them nodded at Lex when he passed them.

Lex used his key card and swiped on the lock. It opened up a second lock where Lex put his thumb down. It registered his thumb print and flashed forward. Lex smiled when he used it to scan his retina.

"You can never be too secure," Lex said, not taking his eye off of the room.

Owlman nodded. "I couldn't agree more."

The two of them stepped inside the room. It looked to be pretty high tech. It was one of the greatest projects that LuthorCorp ever undertook. There had been a lot of working parts put into this, but it was Owlman's contributions that really got it going.

"So, tell me, do you believe that this will work?" Lex asked.

"Belief in your own projects, is the only way to move forward, Mr. Luthor," Owlman said. He tapped his finger on the edge of one of the boards. A flash of light emitted from it. "Without the final component, it's just a large array of lights. It looks good, but it does absolutely nothing."

Owlman reached into his belt and pulled out a silver cylinder. He snapped it open and a large purple crystal slid out into his hand. It rested firmly on the palm of his hand. He felt like he had the entire world resting in his hand.

"An entire universe waits for us, Lex," Owlman said. "It's a brand new world, just….embrace it."

"I have already embraced it," Lex said. He allowed Owlman to slip the purple crystal into the power source.

He saw the lights flash to life. It was a spectacular light show, but Lex found himself grossly underwhelmed by what was happening. He expected results that were far more tangible then this. All he was, was bedazzled and Lex wasn't distracted that long.

"Wait for it," Owlman commented to him.

Lex waited for it and he saw a flash of bright light.

Owlman looked forward and his hands placed on the side of the console. He smiled when he saw the rest of them go through. Two of them had been sent along as a scouting force. The rest of them arrived right now.

"Seeing is believing," Owlman said.

"Yes, seeing is believing," Lex answered. He wondered how this would change the game.

He had a contingency plan in place, because that's how Lex Luthor went. He always had to be prepared. It was like some demented version of a boy scout.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Syndicate Invasion Part One.**

* * *

Bruce Wayne had some of the best security in the world. You didn't become like him, without having some really good security. Even though he would be among the first to admit the security he had was the furthest thing from foolproof.

He heard sounds coming from beneath Wayne Manor. Whoever was making those sounds were not doing a good job in being quiet. That made Bruce pause. He wondered if whoever was done there, was trying to gain his attention. It could be an animal, but he was not completely convinced.

Bruce pulled back the grandfather clock and revealed an elevator. He made his way down there. His knee really started to ache when he leaned against the cane. The cane placed in his hand was tightened around his fist.

The doors slid open and Bruce exited and looked around. He craned his neck from one side of the room, to the other, and frowned. There was something going on and he didn't like it. He stepped forward.

"Took you far longer for you to get down here than I thought," a crisp voice said. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Bruce?"

"Not long enough," Bruce said. He looked up and saw him drop down from the ceiling. Owlman stood before him. "I thought that you were banished."

"I was merely trapped in a limbo between our two worlds," Owlman said. He turned his hand and motioned for Bruce to bring it. Bruce, despite being on one leg, moved forward. He dodged the attack and kicked Bruce in the back of the leg. He sent him crashing down to the ground like he was yesterday's garbage. "Too slow, I'm afraid. But that's just the ravages of age. You've lost a step, or two."

Bruce reached in and whipped a gas grenade in his face. He coughed and staggered back. Bruce started to fire a series of rapid fire stinging punches in the chest of his enemy, doubling him over. "You'll find that I'm not down yet."

"No, obviously not," Owlman said. He blocked his enemies punch and flipped up.

Bruce looked up. He could see that his enemy had disappeared into the shadows. The real question is, where did he go now? Bruce used his cane as a weapon and he jabbed it in the shadows.

He heard an oof and he suddenly pulled a dummy out of the shadows. The dummy was rigged to explode. Bruce threw the dummy over the chasm, and there was a loud bang that rocked the cave.

Owlman nailed Bruce from behind and knocked him to the ground. He pinned Bruce down to the ground and tried to choke him out.

Bruce struggled underneath his choking. His hands wrapped tightly around him. Bruce headbutted him in response and nailed him in the crotch with the wooden handle of his cane.

"You're going down, whatever you're up to…." Bruce said.

Owlman jabbed him in the midsection and nailed him with a kick. He landed onto the ground with a crack and blood started to pour down his mouth. He had internal injuries of some sort.

His demented doppleganger reached down and hoisted Bruce up by the shirt. "You can't stop what has happened, it's already begun."

"Then why are you here, to brag about it?" Bruce asked. He shook off the pain that he was feeling. "I hate to say it, but that's rather sloppy."

"I need something that you stole from me last time," Owlman said. He punched Bruce in the ribs. "The power source I created from the ground up, it will bring a few of my army to this world, but the portal has to shut down to provide overheating. It needs a more sustainable power source. And you're going to tell me where it is."

"Go to hell," Bruce told him, spitting blood in his face all of the way.

"No, I'm afraid after all you've done, that's where you're going," Owlman said. He pulled out a gun and shot Bruce in the chest once and twice in the head.

Bruce Wayne slumped down to the ground, a battered and bloodied mess. Blood dripped from his mouth when his body twitched on the ground.

Owlman turned around. He didn't want to put any more blood on his hands than he had to, but there were times where business lead to necessity. "In another life, we could be brothers, Bruce. But, you chose to live this life. A pity that I had to do what I had to do. But, that's best for business."

He looked at the trophy room. If he wanted the power source, it would be hid somewhere in here.

He reached up and pried the jaw of a giant robotic dinosaur opened. A glowing purple cortex was pulled out.

Owlman could see it. It was still in good shape. A power source like this could not be destroyed.

"You're smart, Bruce, but I don't have the same problems holding me back," Owlman said. He lifted the gun. "Just to make sure."

He unloaded the clip of the gun in the back of Bruce's head. He stepped back and kicked his corpse a few more times, and walked out.

He left his opposite to expire on the ground of the Batcave, satisfied with what he done. The cortex was his and he would be able to bring his people from his Earth here and transport the people of this Earth there, where they would perish because of the unstable core his planet was.

* * *

Helena, Clark, and Kara all wanted answers and they were going to do whatever they could to get them.

"So, she's like you, only female?" Kara asked.

"It seems to be like that," Clark said.

"She was the one that transported Owlman out of there," Helena said. She was hunched over a handheld device in her hand and she was tracking any strange energy spikes, where they were coming from.

Things went from curious, to even more curious. Helena hunched over the portable device.

"There is something flying in fast, and….whoever it is, they're reeking of some kind of low level radiation," Helena said. That caused Kara and Clark to look at her in concern. "It's low enough where it's not a concern, but high enough where it can get picked up on most scanners."

Clark braced himself for what he needed to do. He wondered if this was her, or whether or not it was someone else.

"Hello, Kal-El."

Clark looked up towards him and he saw a stunningly beautiful woman looking at him. Her hair was midnight black and her eyes were bright blue. They looked towards him, like she was eating him up with her eyes.

"I saw you from afar, but I must say, you look much better in person," she said. They got a full look at her. She wore a tight black top with a silver "U" symbol on it and tight black pants that formed around her body.

Kara was momentarily distracted by how nice the dark black leather pants fit around her body. She cleared her throat, more or so when Helena nudged her roughly and gave her a sharp look as if to tell her to stay sharp.

"Just who are you?" Kara asked.

"My name is Clara Jor-El of Earth 3, but you may call me, Ultrawoman," she said. She got down onto her feet and Clark tried not to get distracted by her beauty. She had a mischievous look in her eyes, but it was also calculating as well.

"Well, Clara….." Clark called her

"Call me, Ultrawoman," she said. She placed her hand on his chest with a smile. "Oh, you're going to be fun to play with, aren't you?"

"What are you doing?" Kara demanded. She was getting a bit agitated with this woman for some reason.

Clara smiled. "Hi, Kara….fancy meeting your universe's version here in this universe. I guess all of the genders aren't swapped, just ours and a few others. But to answer your question, I'm here as part of payback."

"Yes, you and your boyfriend are working with Luthor," Helena said.

If looks could kill, and if Clara wanted to she just mind, Helena might be dead due to that look. "Owlman and I are nothing, I'm sure that he thinks that we're something, but he's just denying what he's truly into. It's not a coincidence that he invites young orphan boys off of the street into his cave, and they never see the light of day again."

Clark wasn't going to lie, the way she said that, it made his skin crawl just a tiny bit.

"Sorry for the image," Clara said. She smiled when she placed her arms around his waist. "If you'd like, I could arrange for you and your girls not to be transported to my world."

"What are you talking about?" Clark asked. He pulled away from her and she frowned.

"Oh, my home is going to die, thanks to the Justice Society, but they've been picked off one by one," Clara said. She smiled and pushed her finger into her mouth, sucking on it, doing her impression of innocent seduction. "All of the bad people from this world are going to be sent there….which is everyone, because there's only so much room. We're going to have a beautiful utopia."

"You believe that, don't you?" Clark asked her. "You believe everything Owlman tells you."

"Well, once my elite guard is here, there won't need to be any more of Owlman," Clara said. She smiled and looked at him. "I'll have a new king to rule by. The only thing is, that I can't tell if this is incest, masturbation, or just plain hot. But I don't care, because you're worth the taboo."

Clara smiled and gave Clark a passionate kiss in response. Her lips were coated with a bright red lipstick and Helena noticed it a few seconds too late.

Helena reached forward and pulled out a piece of green Kryptonite. That caused Clark to flinch slightly, but Clara stood there, causing her to frown.

"What's that supposed to do?" Clara asked. "You don't know, because Daddy never told you. This universe's green Kryptonite doesn't work on me."

"Clark, she's used Red Kryptonite on you, you've got to fight it," Kara said. She grabbed Clark and kissed him intensely, trying to distract him.

The only problem was that some of the red kryptonite lipstick got on her lips as well and Kara felt her passions inflamed.

"Have fun pulling yourself away from yourselves, I got a world to take care of," Clara answered.

Helena frowned, she hated to do this, especially because she was distracted by the extremely hot situation. Clark's hand moved up Kara's legs and started to rub her.

She activated a sonic pulse and that caused them to break completely from each other. Both of them fell to the ground, screaming when their ears started ringing.

* * *

Helena managed to snap Kara and Clark out of what they were feeling and just in time as well. There was another problem though.

They received a call that said Bruce missed his board meeting. That was extremely strange because Helena knew her father and she knew that he didn't miss a board meeting, no matter what, especially one that he called. And if he did, he made sure to communicate the fact that he wasn't going to show up.

Clark could not believe that he got caught off guard. Red Kryptonite didn't affect him nearly as bad as it did last time.

Kara finally spoke up. "In hindsight, kissing you with the red Kryptonite lipstick still on your lips might not have been the best idea."

"You should have knocked me out," Clark suggested.

"Yes, I should have, although I'm not sure if that would have worked," Kara said.

The three of them entered Stately Wayne Manor. It was quite, too quiet. That often was a really bad omen when something felt this quiet. The trio crept around the outer edges of the Manor and looked around.

Clark couldn't hear anything.

Helena had a very bad feeling about this. It was a feeling of dread when she got the call that her mother had been killed and her father had been severely injured by the Joker. She knew that her father was keeping something down in the cave that he was adamant that no one could get their hands on.

It struck her suddenly, they should have gone here first.

Helena closed her eyes. She sensed that there is something really bad, she couldn't really keep her finger on it.

She could see that the grandfather clock was pried open. Already, that raised a flag in the back of Helena's head. Her father would never leave the entrance to the Batcave open like that.

Helena descended down into the cave, with Clark and Kara following her behind. She reached behind her back and leaned forward. Her mouth flew open and she could see the battered body of her father at the bottom of the stairs.

Helena rushed towards him and turned him over. He had been laying down here for over a day. There was no hope for him, yet. She looked over at him.

"No, no, no, no," Helena said. She was trying not to lose her mind.

"There's nothing that you can do to save him," Clark replied. He grabbed Helena by the arm and pulled her back.

Helena took a deep breath. She realized that, but she didn't have to like that at all. She closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. Her teeth gritted and she growled out one world.

"Owlman."

She flung a baterang at a practice dummy and decapitated it. She slumped back into the chair and she breathed heavily. Her hands placed the top of her hair.

"I'm sorry, Helena," Kara said.

"We should have been here first, it's not here, is it?" Helena asked.

She made her way forward and saw the mouth of the gigantic dinosaur opened. That was where he was hiding, whatever he was hiding.

"They need a really large power source to keep the portal open," Kara said. "And your father, he ran across the Crime Syndicate before. He must have stolen that power source from them and stored it here. The real question is, why didn't he destroy it?"

"Maybe such a power source couldn't be destroyed," Clark said.

Helena was distracted. She didn't know what to do. Her father's body was down in the Batcave and she couldn't let it rot down here, but at the same time, she couldn't expose this. The media feeding frenzy would be the worst thing ever and there would be a lot of really dangerous people coming out of the woodwork.

"Whatever you do, you'll do the right thing," Clark told her.

Helena appreciated that sentiment. She didn't know what the right thing was any more and that scared her.

She decided to contact the Clock Tower. "Barbara, we've got a bit of a problem."

"How big of a bit of a problem?" Barbara asked. "Because no offense….."

"My father was killed," Helena said.

That caused Barbara's eyes to widen. She realized something really bad had happened.

"He was killed, in the Batcave," Helena said.

That didn't help with how speechless Barbara was. Her throat felt like it was dry. "How are you going to get him out of there, without anyone knowing?"

"I don't know, I've got to do something fast," Helena said. "The board already knows that he didn't show up, and I'm sure they're going to send somewhere here before too long."

"I hate to rain on your parade, but….there's a source of energy that's draining half of Gotham," Barbara said. "Thankfully, the Clock Tower's on its own separate independent source of energy, but we can't stay afloat for long."

"Can you trace it?" Clark asked.

"Well, I think that I can," Barbara said. She sounded almost insulted.

Clark turned to Helena and was about ready to apology to her. She stopped him. "No, your purpose is far greater. You need to save them all and stop them. Just don't let your double get the drop on you. She's dangerous."

"Don't worry, I'll be with him."

They turned around and saw Diana standing in the cave. "Looks like I picked an interesting time to return to Gotham."

"Yes, you did," Clark answered. He stood with Diana and Kara and the three of them made their way off.

"I think that I've got an idea…..I've got a friend in the GCPD….she doesn't ask too many questions, and she….I think she knows Bruce's secret anyway," Barbara replied.

* * *

Ultrawoman returned to the scene of what was a silent pissing contest between Lex and Owlman. It was almost amusing.

"I thought you said that the power source would run the portal," Lex said. He sounded almost accusatory in his words.

Owlman's patience looked to be at an end. The two women who stood behind Ultrawoman shook their heads at his lackeys that stood behind him.

"A power source is not infinite, especially with your primitive technology," Owlman lectured him. "But, I have made the proper modifications to your portal platform and now the real plan could begin."

"What plan?" Lex asked. "We didn't discuss….."

"You want the world to be protected from the alien menace, don't you, Lex?" Owlman asked. "You want to be the man who is known to protect the world, don't you? You shouldn't hesitate with taking the right steps."

"The right steps?" Lex asked him. "Transparency is a key to all partnerships, and you haven't been transparent."

Ultrawoman leaned back against the wall and watched the show before her. She seemed casual, almost bored. It looked like she was expecting them to turn on each other.

"Lex, you can trust me, everything that I've told you, I've done," Owlman said.

"Perception is everything, my friend," Lex said. He smiled when he looked at Owlman. "And my perception is that you haven't been lying to me, but you've told me a distorted version of the truth. I'm not a fan of that, not at all."

Owlman was about to protest these words from Lex, but suddenly, he activated a switch. It caused a jolt of energy to go through his body.

"You modified your belt with my tech," Lex said. He saw Owlman land on his knees. "It's not too bad for primitive technology, is it?"

"You don't know what you're doing," Owlman said. He could feel the pain going through his body.

"Yes, I know what I'm doing," Lex said. He whistled and his private security force came in, heavily armed. "Thank you, Otis, make sure Owlman's troops are contained while I take him down."

Owlman up towards him. "You don't know what you're doing."

"You think that you've done the right thing, but I have what I need from you," Lex said. He looked down at Owlman. "You think that I was born yesterday. I uncovered information that you were planning on transporting all of the people from this planet onto yours and leaving us to die. Because, you were so inept that you couldn't protect your world."

"Who has told you these lies?" Owlman asked.

Lex frowned and blinked. "Does it really matter at this point? All that matters is the world is now mine and….."

The private security force was taken out. Their limbs snapped and Ultrawoman turned towards him. "There's one remarkable flaw with your plan. You just won't shut up with how great you are."

She gripped Lex by the throat and hoisted him off of the ground. Owlman got himself in position and knocked out Lex's private security force. They fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.

Lex felt the window break behind his back and he was flung out of it. He was sent flying to the streets below.

He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. There was something that caught him on the way back.

Suddenly, there was an individual who arrived and flew up towards them. Owlman stepped back and Ultrawoman looked impressed, but she tried to hold it.

"It's amazing how we meet before you even become anything of value, Kal-El," Owlman said. "Your future stops before it stops now."

He held a gun and he fired a Kryptonite bullet. He dodged the bullet and it impacted into the wall.

Ultrawoman grabbed Clark by the waist and flew him out of the building, under the pretext of pulling him out of the way.

Clark spiraled out of the way and he slammed against the side of the building. The wind had been knocked out of him.

"You can't stop it, because it's already begun!"

Kara and Diana showed up and surrounded her.

"You can't beat all of us," Diana said.

"Maybe," Ultrawoman said. She smiled when she flew off, with Clark in hot pursuit. "Catch me if you can, Superman!"

Clark blinked at that particular name. He had to admit that there was a certain ring to it.

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Syndicate Invasion Part Two.**

* * *

Clark thought that there was a pretty good chance that he might have stumbled into a trap of some sort. He couldn't really focus on that right now. Ultrawoman was leading him on a chase around the world.

"Not as fast as you were before, were you!" she called. She grinned at him. "Or rather, as fast as you will be. Or are you enjoying the view too much to catch up?"

Her eye catching tight leather pants were fairly eye catching and Clark found himself behind her, literally a long way. He grabbed at her foot, but she did a forward roll out of the air. She turned around and Clark needed to put the brakes on.

He wondered what her game was. This was what she was doing, she was playing some sort of game. He had left Owlman behind to do what he did. He left Lex behind to get some kind of medical attention.

Clark flew right into a large hammer blow. It nailed him in the face hard and knocked him backwards. He slammed into the glass of the building.

He could see a dark haired woman dressed in black one piece that showed her legs off quite nicely. She wore a helmet and she resembled Diana, although a far darker version of the Amazon Princess.

She grabbed her around the throat and squeezed her hand around him. His eyes bugged out when her hand wrapped around his throat. Clark tried to pull her hand away from his throat, but his struggle was immense. He started to breath and pushed her arm away.

Diana, his Diana, grabbed her around the waist and flung her over her head. The darker Amazon princess was flung backwards. Diana jumped at her and their bracelets clashed together. The two of them struggled back and forth.

Clark looked up and he wondered where Ultrawoman went. He saw another blur shoot in. Clark could see that she was amazing looking. All three women were extremely beautiful and very dangerous, which caused Clark to take a long amount of pause when he looked over his shoulder.

Her shoulder length blonde hair framed her face, showing a bright and deadly set of blue eyes. She had the type of body that could either seduce a man to his doom or simply crush him. The tight black costume fit against her body, stretching against her large breasts. There was a window in her chest, showing a distracting amount of cleavage. The material rode up, showcasing her tight ass which she turned around to show all of at this point.

"So, do you like what you see?" she asked.

Kara stopped and her mouth hung open. She stepped back. "You're me?"

"Yeah, very good, only a bit more mature," the bustier blonde said. She took a long breath and let out a gust of wind from her mouth.

The super breath caused Kara, Diana, and Clark to fly back. The three of them landed on the roof of a building.

"We could so easily crush them right now," Diana's double said. She had none of the compassion that Diana had, even though she was just as beautiful. A different kind of beautiful, a dangerous beautiful who could crush someone underneath her feet if they caused any problems.

"Don't," Ultrawoman said. "I found the signal, and….it's what we need to move forward to the next stage of the plan."

She sent a blast of heat vision and caused a bus to spiral out of control thanks of her efforts. She managed to cause two more catastrophes in the city.

Heroes, they could be so predictable sometimes, with what they did. She really didn't concern herself with the fact that there would be innocent people caught in the cross fire. These heroes would save the day, just like they always did.

Clark watched one of the buses go out of control. It was about ready to crash, but not if he could help it.

He darted right in front of the bus at a blur of light and blocked the bus. His heals dug into the ground when he held onto the bus. His feet dragged up across the ground and he brought it to a stop.

The bus finally stopped, and Clark fell back. He opened up the side of the bus, making sure to vibrate his face to ensure that no one knew who he was and also distorted his voice. He doubted that a pair of glasses, for example, would be able to fool anyone.

"Okay, everyone off, get to a safe place," Clark said.

There was a cheer.

Diana could see that the train was about ready to go off the tracks. It couldn't stop in time. She moved over and grabbed the bent parts of the tracks.

Kara flew over and Diana held the tracks in place. She used her heat vision to fix the tracks suddenly.

She could see that a plane was about ready to crash hard into Metropolis. Kara frowned and she kicked up, going up, up, and away.

She grabbed onto the wing of the plane and prevented it from crashing into the ground. She maneuvered it towards the nearest airport so it could make a safe landing.

Her jacket was pretty much ruined beyond all belief, but at least the people were safe. For the third time this night, the day was saved.

Their three doubles were gone, and Kara, Clark, and Diana met up. Clark could hear a ringing in his ear.

"What's wrong now?" Diana asked. All she saw from her perspective was Kara and Clark huddled over in pain.

She tried to figure out what she needed to do, but Clark waved her off. He looked extremely pained before he managed to say it. "The Fortress, it's the Fortress, they're after….The Fortress."

Diana gasped, this wasn't going to be good, for the obvious reasons. She wondered what was going to happen next.

Kara, Clark, and Diana moved off, hoping that they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

Owlman loved it when the pieces of a well-planned came together. The only problem was he had to eliminate Lex Luthor from the equation. He walked down the hallway, followed by two of his fellow Crime Syndicate members, Power Ring and Johnny Quick. Both of them had their uses, but they were chess pieces in the game that he was planning.

"Gentlemen, we are only the beginning, only the elite came through the portal," Owlman said. He slipped into the office. The two men followed him. "And now the entire Syndicate will come through the portal, and we are unlimited."

"Yeah, boss, that's right," Johnny said.

"So what are we going to do next?" Power Ring asked.

Owlman looked towards them with his calm expression. It indicated a fair amount of indifference that he had towards them. "Leave the finer details of the plan to me. I've got an idea."

They knew that their boss would have the finer details of the plan in place. He rescued them and now the entire Crime Syndicate and their extended network would be here. It was time for a brand new world to be created, a perfect world.

Elsewhere in the building, Huntress made her way through the vents. She was able to take care of her father and now she was on the hunt for the bastard who did this to him. She stepped down the vent and she peered outside of the vent.

"Heroes, they have been a thorn in my side," Owlman said. His voice got rough and he sounded rather sentimental, in a twisted way. "My parents needed to make a living, but they lost their fortune. They became master thieves to provide for me. A noble cause, wouldn't you believe?"

"Yes, yes, yes, boss," Johnny said. He nodded his head up and down so fast that it looked like it might fall off.

Helena prepared to get into position. Timing was everything. If she got too emotional, she would get screwed her and not in a good way. She placed her hands on either side of the vent and positioned herself.

Owlman adjusted a knob. He took a moment to reflect. "And they came in one night and some police officer shot them when they entered the window. Before my very eyes…they did it. They said that they felt bad, they tried to buy me ice cream and put me with a nice foster family, but that wouldn't bring my parents back, would it?"

His two fellow Syndicate members shook their heads. They might have heard this story countless times before, but they didn't mean that they were going to dare to say anything.

Helena pushed open the vent and she dropped down onto the ground. Power Ring turned around and shot a large spike construct at her.

"Intruder, get her!" Owlman yelled.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Johnny said. He rushed towards Owlman at the speed of light.

Helena threw a pellet at the ground and caused it to burst open. Oil was released on the ground and that caused him to skid into the wall at super speed.

She dodged a swinging hammer that was created by Power Ring. She flipped over him and threw several gas pellets down onto the ground. They exploded and a green gas filled the room. That disrupted his cover.

Helena flipped up and brought the point of her boot down onto the back of her enemy's head. Said boot slammed down onto his head and he landed face first onto the ground.

Power Ring created some construct shackles and took her legs out from underneath her. She fell down onto the ground, the wind was knocked completely out of her. Helena blocked his attack, and caused him to knock himself out.

He fell to the ground and she looked down the hallway. She saw Owlman with his back turned against her, like she was some kind of triviality. That pissed her off.

"I'll be with you in just one second."

Being forced to wait had pissed her off even further. Helena retracted a metal staff and she rushed him. She tried to put the staff through his back, but the staff literally passed through hi. He flickered and revealed a golden disc on the ground.

Owlman was a hologram, which meant the other Owlman was elsewhere in the building. Helena activated her gauntlet.

If she detected strange energy signatures, then there was a pretty good chance that she would be able to locate Owlman. That was the idea she had anyway. She rushed forward, determination flashing through her eyes.

She would get her hands on him and she would make him pay.

* * *

Clark tore through the air towards the Fortress, looking like a bat out of hell. His breathing increased when he kept getting closer to the entrance point.

"Wait, Kal!" Kara yelled after him. She could sense his urgency, but she wasn't really sure if that's where they were going.

Kara sighed when he seemed to be blocking her out. She followed him, with Kara grabbing Diana's hand. She could fly pretty fast, but not quite faster than a speeding bullet.

The gateway cracked open and allowed them to enter the Fortress. Clark, Diana, and Kara entered inside.

"Welcome home, Kal-El."

That was not Lara's voice and Clark bunched his fists up when he heard that. It was a soft, seductive voice of Ultrawoman. "Why don't you kick back and make yourself at home, Kal?"

"Where are you, Clara?" Clark asked her.

She sounded amused when she finally responded. "Oh, I'm around. This place is pretty well designed, even if it's a little bland. You got to thank Jor-El for that one. He's a brilliant man, isn't he? Even though he's not that much of an interior decorator."

Clark looked around and he could see the lights light up in the Fortress. It lead him down the way. Kara and Diana followed him.

He could see the AI console that housed his parents. It was glowing red.

"I'm no expert in Kryptonian technology, but that doesn't look good," Diana said.

Kara shook her head. "She must have locked the AIs in and taken control of the Fortress. She….she's enough like Kal where the Fortress registers her as being like Kal to let her inside."

"That's an unfortunate security hole, isn't it?" Diana asked her.

They were pretty close, but Clark couldn't help and feel anxious. The Fortress looked like it was compromised. The number of weapons the Fortress had access to, even though there was no intent to use them, was worrying for Clark.

Diana felt the tension rise up on her. As an Amazon, she had a sixth sense that there was something really bad around the corner. Her blood started to rush when she tensed up with the hunt.

"Trouble?" Clark asked her.

Diana relaxed her tension when Clark's hand touched hers. She nodded. "Trouble."

Kara rose up on her tip toes and it was rather odd that other than the AIs, and the fact they could hear Ultrawoman's voice, the Fortress had been oddly compromised. The three of them made their way down a long hallway.

Ultrawoman sat in a computer chair, carved out of the ice on the Fortress. She had her legs crossed in the tight leather pants she wore. She slowly placed her finger into the edge of her mouth and sucked on her fingernail. One lock of hair draped over her face in a fairly seductive manner.

"I was wondering when you would show up," Ultrawoman said. She uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet. Her pouty lips curled into a smile and Clark stepped back. "And trust me, I don't have my favorite brand of lipstick on tonight. Everything's on the level."

"What do you want?" Clark asked.

"Peace on Earth, good will to men, Owlman's head on a pike, that creepy bastard is pushing it," Ultrawoman said. She smiled when she stepped over towards Clark. "I can see it in your eyes, Kal. I know what you want. The two of us together, perfect beings. Our collectives merged into one being. Just imagine what we could do. We can control the world, both the good sides and the evil sides. Owlman…he has tunnel vision, obsessed with just crime."

"Why did you take control of the Fortress?" Clark asked her.

Kara and Diana positioned themselves on either side of Clark. It was obvious that they braced themselves for what could be an extremely intense fight.

"To answer your question, to help you with what's going to come," Clara answered. She smiled as the blonde and dark haired woman joined her. The doubles of both Kara and Diana stared at them. "Oh, I'm being rude again, aren't I? I don't think that we've been formally introduced. This is Fury and this is Power Woman, and they've been dying to get a piece of you, Kal-El. And I'm sure that they'll be willing to share with you."

"You really think that we're just going to stand back and allow you to take control of the world?" Kara asked.

Clara sighed and shook her head. "Oh, Kal, you really should learn how to better train your pets. They might end up embarrassing you someday."

Clark frowned when his eyes focused on Clara. "Kara speaks for me. Why would you stand by and allow Owlman to do all of this if you didn't like him so much?"

Clara hated having to explain her actions. Her male counterpart was valiant and sadly a bit idealistic. She could work that out of him though, if she was creative and she thought that she was.

"Well, we tried to do this the nice way," Clara said. "Now we're going to do this…the fun way."

The members of the Crime Syndicate paired off with their counterparts. They all rushed together.

Chaos was going to reign in the Fortress. Diana and Fury exchanged a series of rapid fire exchanges with each other. Both were well trained, although it looked like Fury had more time to hone her attacks and she backed Diana off.

Kara tried her best to fight Power Woman. She avoided the attacks from the woman, but they were brutal and efficient. She found herself slammed against the wall and the wind was knocked out of her.

As for Clark, he went face to face with his double. His double who slammed her fists into his chest and doubled him over. She brought him down hard onto the ground and kept kicking and punching at him.

"It's fine, I enjoy being on top anyway."

Clark grabbed her by the wrist and he flung her halfway across the Fortress. She bounced back off of the wall and shot her heat vision at him. Clark fired back with a burst of heat vision of his own.

Both bolts of heat vision connected with each other. It seemed to be a struggle, for both to exert their dominance.

Diana found herself flung around the Fortress. She dodged a sword swing from Fury, and rolled over. She picked up a dislodged ice crystal and used it as a weapon. There was a sound of the two weapons smashing together.

Kara found herself being shoved face first into the Arctic cold water by Power Woman. She tried to hold her breath. She was pulled out.

"Don't want to kill you," Power Woman said. She slammed her down to the ground. "Men, women, it doesn't matter, they are blinded by my breasts."

"Yes, and they get in your way of seeing the obvious," Kara said. She struggled when she felt Power Woman's hands press against hers.

"What obvious?" Power Woman asked.

Kara headbutted her in the face and pulled herself away. She flew towards Power Woman and blasted her with an intense flip kick.

The battle raged on in the Fortress. In the center was Clara and Clark trying to fight each other off, with their heat vision. Clark thought that he was winning.

She decided to use her super breath to cause a gust of cool wind to kick up and that caused his concentration to break.

All was fair in love and war and to her, this was both. Clark massaged the burn on his chest.

"Oh, poor baby, can I kiss it and make it feel better?"

* * *

Helena felt like she was on top of something, but she wasn't sure how close that she was. She had been up and down every single floor and this floor, it gave her the highest energy readings.

She frowned. She had been looking at this from the wrong angle. Helena crossed the hallway and placed her hands on the right and the left of the door. Her teeth gritted.

The energy was getting hotter, hotter. Now it was so hot that it burned her up. Helena's lips shifted into a triumphant grin.

First rule of the crime fighter, never be too certain until you saw it for real. She could see one spot on the wall that was causing everything to go insane.

Helena carefully moved some dust out of the way to reveal a hidden computer outlet. It was reeking with the same kind of energy that the Crime Syndicate was reeking for. She thought that she hit the jackpot, but she also found that she was running out of time.

She retracted a cable and plugged it from the computer outlet in the wall into her portable computer. She switched on the headset. "Barbara, now would be a good time to see if you're with me."

"I'm with you," Barbara said. "Let's do this."

She thought that it would be a cold day before Barbara couldn't work her magic. Helena half expected something to happen.

The walls shifted open and revealed a secret elevator. Helena slipped inside and it closed behind her.

"I wonder who else Lex has been working with, to get a sweet set up like this," Chloe chimed in. "Oh, I'm here helping Barbara, hi!"

"We're going to need all the help that we can get, so it's appreciated," Helena said. She stepped through the gateway and made her way forward.

She made her way down the hallway. The high tech portal was blinking several lights when she walked forward. Her lips twisted into a frown when she could see Owlman standing in the center of it.

The energy field caught her. It tickled her body and prevented her from walking forward. She frowned even more deeply.

"So it begins, the end, the end of the Multiverse."

"What is he doing?" Barbara asked.

"He's not bringing his people here, he's…" Helena said. She realized what was happening, seconds before. "Get the gate down, I've got to stop this."

"You can't stop this, because it's already begun," Owlman said. "You're going to be no more useful in stopping this than you were from protecting your father."

Energy flowed through the walls and a portal appeared. Helena saw a large hand at the end of the tunnel.

"It will collide, past, present, and future."

* * *

**To Be Continued. **


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Syndicate Invasion Part Three.**

* * *

Clara's foot connected in the side of Clark's face with a sickening smack. He landed down onto the ground. She rose up high into the air and tried to bring her feet down onto his chest to knock the wind out of him.

He avoided having the wind knocked out of him, blocking her feet on the way down. He flipped her over and caused her to crash onto the ground.

Clark tried to fly at her at the speed of the light. She caught him around the neck and spun him around. She brought him down hard onto the ground, with him smashing against the ice. She smiled when she looked down at him.

Power Woman threw herself at Kara, who ducked. Kara was grabbed by the arm by Diana and pulled out of the way.

"What are you doing?" Kara asked, when Diana swung her in the air.

"Switching things up, seeing how well it works," Diana said. She launched Kara directly into Fury.

Fury slammed hard into the wall. She landed down onto the ground with an oof. She tried to push herself up, but Kara drilled her with a sharp kick to the face. She flipped out of the way and she smashed her hand into the ground. Kara jumped on her back and put her arm underneath her chin, forcing her down to the ground.

Diana and Power Woman exchanged a rapid fire series of punches. The whirling of their hands went back and forth against each other. Power Woman looked to be thrown off her game going up against someone who wasn't her enemy. Diana got behind her and tied her up, forcing her down to her knees.

"Are you going to submit?" Diana asked.

She tried to break the lasso, but found herself caught. Her breasts stretched against the lasso and it was an extremely tight fit. She wanted to heat vision Diana's head off, but she calmed down.

"You don't believe what Owlman is doing, do you?" Diana asked.

The lasso wrapped around her and she was compelled to obey. She nodded in response. "I don't believe it, in fact, we're going to kill him…..when he's gotten everything done."

Kara and Fury fought with each other. Clark slid on in and grabbed Fury around the waist. "Mind if I cut in?"

Kara smiled brightly and nodded. "By all means, be my guest."

Clark and Fury struggled with each other, and Clark took her down to the ground. He launched her into one of the crystal arrays. She cracked.

"Override," Clark said. He pressed his hand on the Fortress council and a bright energy surrounded Fury. The Amazon Warrior struggled and howled with madness. She was completely stuck. She cursed in pain.

Ultrawoman dodged Kara's attempt to take her head off. She blocked her punch, and took her down to the ground. She flipped Kara over onto her back and pinned her down.

Kara's eyes glowed and she tried to take her out with heat vision. Ultrawoman blocked the attack with her hand and smacked Kara in the face hard.

She fell to the ground with a groan, feeling her eyeballs burned. Ultrawoman saw Wonder Woman come out of the corner of her eye, but she was taken down instantly.

"Guess it's just me and you now," Ultrawoman said.

Clark stood off with Ultrawoman and charged her at the speed of light. She blocked his attack at the last possible moment. He took her down to the ground.

"I normally like it when you play rough," Ultrawoman said. She found herself trapped on the ground and the wind was being taken out of her. He jabbed her in the side and that caused her body to spasm.

"I'm glad to see that you've been paying attention," Lara said.

His twin fell to the ground temporarily paralyzed. Clark pulled her up to her feet and fastened her hands together and held her up.

"It's over," Clark answered.

There was a flashing of light that erupted through the Fortress. Ultrawoman looked at him with half lidded eyes. She could barely speak from the attack Clark did to her. Her tone was soft though. "Oh you bastard, you bastard, this is what you've done. I suppose that's what I get for keeping you around as a pawn for too long. I'm just a sentimental bitch."

Clark didn't understand what she was talking about. Clara smiled and decided to clarify.

"My Earth, you're Earth, it doesn't really matter," Clara said. "I think that he plans to destroy everything and reshape it in his own image….only I don't think that he's thought things out too well, because there will be nothing for him to return to."

"He's mad," Clark said.

Clara smiled, wrapping her arms around him. Her blue eyes met his when he held her up. "Yes….yes he is."

Clark wondered what he was going to do now. He had to secure the other members of the Crime Syndicate before he could move on with what he wanted to do. He turned around. "Access the energy spike, I've got to stop it."

"The only way to shut down the portal at this point, is to go to the source, Kal-El," Jor-El said. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe that this young lady knows exactly where the portal is."

Clark frowned when he turned to Clara. She shifted herself into a soft grin. "I do….I can take you now….if you trust me."

It went without saying that Clark didn't really trust her with all of the deception she pulled. But at the same time, she didn't have any motivation to betray him just now. She would want a piece of Owlman, well more than a piece, perhaps a big chunk.

He thought that he could use the backup and he had Kara and Diana with him. There were far worse people to have as back up. They made sure the other Crime Syndicate ladies were put on ice.

"They're normally fine, but they're just a bit…pent up," Clara informed him. "So, are you ready to rip Owlman's head off?"

* * *

Owlman stood on the precipice of true power, ready to become a God. He was going to become everything that he ever wanted to be. He saw the portal fire up and it was at about eighty five percent. Within the next seven minutes and thirty three seconds, he would be ready to head through the portal and achieve his ultimate triumph.

He turned around and dodged a bolt fired by the Huntress. Owlman ducked his head and he avoided a series of rapid fire shots.

"It's amusing how you try to fight me, when you cannot defeat the inevitable," Owlman said. He flipped into the air behind her.

He tried to punch her. She blocked the punch. Another punch and he blocked it again. Both of them kept trying to get the drop on each other with a punch.

Eventually, he went behind her and kicked her hard on the leg, kicking her leg out from underneath her leg. She landed onto the ground, hitting it with an intense grimace.

Owlman grabbed her by the hair and bounced her face off of the pavement. "We just had this lesson last night. Guess you're as soft as your father, not learning when to go in for the kill when you've got the chance. I do hope that you'd have plenty of time to learn the lesson that I'm trying to teach you, at least before I write you out of existence."

Helena squirmed. She felt Owlman's powerful hand clench her jaw and he tried to force her down. No matter how much he did, she was still fighting him off. She struggled to break his grip on her.

Suddenly, the windows shattered and Clark flew in. He knocked Owlman down onto the ground.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Owlman said. He reached into his pocket and flung a dagger made of Kryptonite at him.

Clark dodged it, but he felt a little light headed about being in the proximity of the Kryptonite. He staggered, slumping down on the ground to one leg.

Owlman slid a pair of Kryptonite brass knuckles on. "I'll make this quick and painless as possible, Kal-El, I've got a time tunnel to catch."

"You might want to check again, because you're flight has been delayed," Kara said. Owlman smiled and rushed towards her.

She dodged the Kryptonite brass knuckles and landed on her feet hard. She could feel Owlman move towards her.

A blast of heat vision caught Owlman from behind and incinerated his armor from his body. He screamed in pain.

Owlman dropped to his knees, left with nothing, but his under clothes on and they were charged. He looked up and saw Ultrawoman.

"And like Caesar to Brutus, you betray me," Owlman said.

Clark was about ready to comment that should be the other way around, but he realized that entire universe was flipped.

"You have room to talk, you sociopath," Ultrawoman said.

"Three minutes, and it's all for nothing, if I don't go through, everything is lost," Owlman said. He got to his feet.

Three arrows shot in Owlman's back, impaling him straight through to the chest. Huntress stood behind him, panting. Her leg was killing her, but she avenged her father's death, something that her own father never had a chance to do.

"Please tell me you can shut it down," Helena said.

Clara looked almost insulted by the lack of faith put in her. "Naturally, I can shut it down."

She moved over and walked over to the console. She didn't have much time, but no sweat there. She would just have to take a couple of shortcuts.

The power was cut from the building and she was able to take out the power source safely. A moment passed when she slid it out of the console.

"Careful, it's hot," she said, passing it onto Kara.

Kara winced when the super hot power source touched her hands. She looked very cross when she spoke. "No kidding."

Clara frowned when she looked over one of the readings, that couldn't be right. But at the same time, she should have seen it coming. "Oh, that bastard, that bastard, that bastard!"

"That can't be good," Diana said. She could see Clara continue to curse Owlman's name to the high heavens.

She took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. The last thing they needed was someone who had super powers throwing a fit. She held herself inside her. It was a good thing that this son of a bitch was already dead, because she would have killed him. She wanted to see him burn.

Clark's hand grabbed hers. For a brief moment, Clara recoiled from the contact. A few seconds later, she calmed down. Her heart beat, this was the first genuine contact that she felt after a moment. It was equal parts family and lover, and two things that had been a void in her heart for some time. Sure she had her fun with her Crime Syndicate members, but that was a different matter entirely.

"Please, explain," Clark informed her.

Clara closed her eyes and looked forward. "It's….well it's a weapon, a bio weapon he had deployed. I'm not sure when he had time to build it, but he has a contingency plan. He was going to transport it away when the portal was destroyed, but now…."

"How long do I have to stop it?" Clark asked.

"I'm not sure if you can stop it," Clara said. Clark looked at her firmly. "You have four minutes."

"I'll get it done in two," Clark said. He turned around and Kara went to follow him. "In case this is it…."

"It won't be," Kara said. "But, you better go, the clock is ticking."

Most wouldn't let him go, but Kara had the utmost convince in him.

* * *

Clark knew that his back was against the wall now. Four minutes was a rather short time window and the closer he got to the weapon, he was seriously doubting his claim that he could disable it in two minutes.

He really had to try. Clark flew closer towards the weapon. An energy rippled around him. Clark knew that if he made one wrong move, he could prematurely set up the weapon.

"Kal-El, listen to me closely," Jor-El said. "You will need to get in close to the central power core, and disable it carefully. Estimated time of dismantling, two minutes and nineteen seconds."

It was going to go off in less than four minutes. He didn't have much time. Clark disabled the side panel and saw the central power cell. He placed his hand on it, but it caused his hands to burn and the timing to buzz.

"It's speeding up, the timer is," Clark said.

"Then, we must prepare for the worst," Jor-El said.

Lara jumped in. She had an idea, even if it was insane. "Kal, you need to transport it somewhere else….to a location where there is no life where it could harm. I'm preparing the coordinates right now."

Clark hated to hurry his mother along, but they were running rapidly out of time. His heart sped up. The portal kept blinking above him.

He grabbed onto the device and rocketed it through the portal. He moved it away from Earth.

Clark felt his lungs grow heavy. The barren wasteland he had been transported into was not conductive to living. He couldn't hear his parents any more. Things were growing increasingly insane. The portal flickered around him and he knew that he would need to get back through the portal. He could hear the buzzing behind him.

If he wasn't back in time….well he didn't want to think about that. Clark needed to get back in time. A pair of hands grabbed him and yanked him through the portal. There was a loud explosion that resounded, and a second one. Clark felt his entire world go fuzzy.

Clark closed his eyes for a second. He thought for a moment that he didn't make it in time. He was flying, he was falling, and he was falling hard.

Something swooped out from around the other side and caught him in mid-air. He smiled when Kara held him up.

"That was risky and insane," Kara said. She stopped and allowed them to descend to the ground. "I knew it was a good idea to follow you."

Clark was brought to the ground. He felt severely weakened.

"The bio-weapon didn't get you, don't worry," Kara said. She held up the scanner and scanned Clark. "You entered a place where very few people survive for long."

"That's the best place to store that weapon, then," Clark said. Kara looked towards him. "I felt like that I was weaker than….well when I was stabbed with the Kryptonite."

"I think that's the idea," Clark said. He looked up and the sun was coming up before him. He could barely stand, but Kara held him up. "I think that I'll just need a few minutes to….recover."

"Take all the time you need, Kal," Kara told him. She smiled. "After all, you saved the world, there's no need to rush."

"No, I didn't save the world," Clark corrected her. He reached around and gripped Kara's hand tightly. "We saved the world. It was a team effort, all of us."

Kara smiled, she could believe that, she really could believe that. She allowed Clark to get back to his feet.

There was a crowd that was gathered around. Clark supposed that he couldn't stay in the shadows for long. All of them were looking at him, almost like they were trying to determine exactly what to make of him. Seconds passed, with minutes passing after that, and Clark waited for their reaction.

One of them started to clap and then more of then started to clap. Clark didn't know what to make of this.

"I think they're grateful for the rescue," Kara said. She didn't know if they knew how close they were to being taken down just like that. She gripped Clark's hand and smiled in response. "And I think that it's for a good reason."

Clark didn't really know what to make of it.

"It's the blur that has been saving people!" one of them cheered in response. They continued to applaud his actions and it got completely louder.

So much for being anonymous, but for some reason, Clark didn't become all that bothered by it. The solar strength returned to his body and he felt fresher than ever. He rose up to the ground and flew off.

He did think that the Superman name did have a nice ring to it, but he wasn't going to be as arrogant to name himself that.

* * *

Clara was glad that he got out in one piece. He approached her when she was waiting outside of the Fortress. Diana and Kara stood on either side of her. It was almost like they didn't trust her, and Clara didn't blame them at all.

"You did play your part in saving the world," Clark answered.

Clara looked at him. He was far more forgiving that she would have been in his place. She guessed that's what made him a hero in his own way. "I guess you could say that. I'm not sure how much I would agree though."

She didn't want to bring up the obvious point that the world might not be in that grave of a peril if she had taken out Owlman sooner. Or had not shut off the portal before checking whether or not he had some kind of failsafe. That man and his contingencies would be the death of her yet.

"So, time for me to face the music," Clara said.

Clark wasn't going to tell her anything and that put Clara more on edge than anything else. He lead her forward.

She entered the Fortress, with Power Woman and Fury waiting for her. Both of them looked to be oddly subdued. They were in energy restraining shackles.

"So, I guess this is it," Power Woman said. She felt that she deserved this, given the fact that she got defeated.

"You saved the world, didn't you?" Fury asked.

"Yes, and the world wouldn't need any saving if I hadn't blundered things by not keeping a better eye on my pawn," Ultrawoman said. She turned around and looked at Clark.

Kara discussed the matter with Lana before going over here. Lana was thrilled that Clark had three more girls practically at his mercy and was sad that she couldn't be here, but perhaps another time.

After all, they didn't want to put any non-super powered females in the line of fire, unless absolutely necessary. There was a chance that these three women could be on the level and there could also be a chance that they were trying to dupe them.

"So, the three of you have committed crimes against not only this world, but on multiple Earths," Kara said.

The three girls nodded. They did some really awful things. It wasn't really personal honest, it was just business.

"I'm sure that you three naughty girls understand that there are consequences to your actions," Kara said. "Your crimes were very awful."

The three of them inclined their heads, looking a bit remorseful. They understand that they did some very bad things.

"We….we're truthfully sorry with what we did," Clara said with a look of sorrow on her face. "But whatever punishment that we have….I'm sure that you're going to be worth it."

"Well, technically, you could be considered dangerous and you should get sent to the Phantom Zone," Clark said.

That caused all of the females to look on in horror. Kara decided to strike while the iron was still out.

"You could get sent to the Phantom Zone, yes," Kara said. She smiled. "But, there are options. You can become part of Kal-El's collective….providing that you acknowledge who is boss."

Fury eyed her fellow Syndicate survivors. "Yes, anything is better than imprisonment."

"And this might be enjoyable," Power Woman said. She folded her arms underneath her breasts, which did a wonderful job of emphasizing them. "I think that we're going to really enjoy this, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yes, completely, we will," Clara said. She walked towards him and got down on her knees before her new master.

The other women followed suit and kneeled before their new god and savior.

Kara smiled, they would be good additions. "Now, I don't think that you need any instructions on what you're going to do next, do you?"

Clara shook her head. "I don't think any of us need any instructions or encouragement."

Diana and Kara stood by to help break in the newest members of Kal's collective.

* * *

**To Be Concluded In the Final Chapter.  
**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty: Superman. **

* * *

A pair of tired eyes opened up. It took him a few moments to realize where he was and why he was in such a position. On the bright side, the world didn't end. On the negative side, he was caught in a hospital room, without anywhere to go. He felt like his neck was stiff and it was hard for him to lift his head up.

Where was he? That was a good question and not one that he thought that he was in a position of answering any time soon. His eyes flickered when he could see the doctor move his way towards him.

"Relax, Mr. Luthor, you just came out of major surgery."

He wondered what he could have had surgery on. The last thing he remembered, he was shoved out of a window and he nearly plummeted to his doom. There were a few ideas that he had regarding what happened afterwards, but it was pretty hard to put the pieces together, at least from where he was.

"So I see," Lex grumbled. He tried to lift himself up, but he found that he was sedated.

He could hear the news talking in the background. It would be the best way to pick up what happened when he was out.

"The world is buzzing regarding the newest hero out there," the newscaster commented. "He is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful the a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."

Lex could feel a sense of queasiness grip over his body. He found himself down on the bed and unable to get up, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Close the blinds, the sun is irritating my eyes," Lex said.

There was something else that was irritating his ears, something that he couldn't shut out no matter how much he wanted to. The praise of the world's newest hero, and they discussed how he stopped the world from a dangerous criminals.

"Billionaire businessman Lex Luthor is currently laid up in the hospital, although there are many who are calling for him to be investigated for his part in today's events," the newscaster continued. "Did he knowingly participate in the near end of the world?"

Lex knew that there was no court in the land that could convict him of what took place, but the court of public opinion could be a fairly damning one.

"Change the channel," Lex ordered the doctor. "What am I paying you for? Change to something else."

The doctor walked over. He was glad that Lex would pay his medical bills and buy him that new summer home that he always wanted with it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even bothered considering caving into the man's demands.

"He is being called one of the world's mightiest heroes. People around the world are knowingly sleeping better seeing that he is there. When there is trouble, there is Superman. He saved billionaire businessman Lex Luthor from falling to his death. I can say without a doubt that Mr. Luthor is grateful for what Superman has done."

Lex's face fell into a deep frown. He didn't look fairly grateful at it. He looked on with a scowl.

Why would they glorify someone with powers, who put himself above the common man? He was not born of this planet and it burned Lex up inside. He gave the world everything and asked for little in return.

Lex found himself completely and utter incensed at the lack of respect that he was getting. Especially considering that the praises of this alien was getting sang on pretty much every channel. Every time someone turned around it was Superman this or Superman that. It enraged Lex to know end.

"Mr. Luthor, it's time for you to take your medication," the doctor said. "Is everything alright, your heart rate is off of the charts?"

"You're the doctor, you tell me!" Lex snapped.

He scowled when he allowed the doctors to treat him. They talked about how Superman saved him, but Lex didn't feel that saved. He felt completely helpless and here he was, in a hospital bed, with no clue as to when he'd get out of here.

All Lex could do was seethe and watch this entire scene. He would have been impressed if he hadn't been looked to made a fool. He had a tube in him and he couldn't go to the bathroom on his own.

It was always darkest before the dawn though. Lex would bounce back. That's what Luthors did, they bounced back. He rested on the bed and plotted his revenge.

The medication took effect and Lex slipped into a blissful state of sedation. There was one thought that dominated his mind and that was that he was the Alpha Male and not Superman. He would have him.

* * *

If there was one truth to the matter, it was good to be home. Clark found himself back in Smallville with Chloe, Lana, Lois, and Kara.

"Well, your little misadventure hit the news, big time," Lois said. "Guess, you're not that mysterious urban legend anymore."

"I thought….."

Lana interrupted Clark, almost like she knew exactly what he was going to say and she cut him off from saying it. "That's not a bad thing, you being out in the public. It gives people something to aspire to, a symbol of hope."

"And it also paints a big target on my chest," Clark said.

"Well, we're going to have problems," Kara said. She smiled and looked towards Clark. "But we're going to face them head on."

"Still, Superman?" Lana asked. "I mean….it's fitting and all but still…..Superman."

"Well, I didn't name myself," Clark said.

"It's kind of catchy, it rolls of the tongue," Chloe said. "And I'm going to make it my goal in life to make it stick."

"If you say so," Clark said.

"I do say so," Chloe said. "Well, we had to answer for that little side trip to Gotham City."

"Yeah, we got a lecture about it, but don't worry, it won't happen again," Lana said. She gave the rest of the group a wink and they all laughed about it. "But, seriously, I don't have a problem with the entire Superman name. Providing that you don't start wearing your underwear on the wrong side of your pants, or something like that."

Clark frowned. "Why would I do something like that?"

"I don't know, it just seems like something that a super hero might do," Lana said. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Very strange," Lois murmured underneath her breath.

"Isn't life strange sometimes?" Lana asked them all.

She couldn't believe how this started as an attempt to get Clark's attention, but it had gotten into something even more and she was happy because of that. She just wondered what insanity would happen in the future.

"So, could you classify this as your first adventure?" Chloe asked. Clark frowned and looked at her. "Well, I mean, I don't want to discount everything that came before it as a bunch of needless preparation, but still…..you've come a long way from where you were."

"I've come a long way, and I've got a long way to go," Clark added.

That was the thing as far as he could see it. He could see the future and it was rather bright. He had several people standing by his side and the sky was only the limit from here. He didn't know what to make of the future, but he felt more optimistic than he was.

"So, how are our latest accusations doing?" Lana asked.

"Currently in the Fortress, recovering from being put through the paces," Kara said. Lana threw her fist up and pouted.

"I really wish that I would have been there now."

Kara reached over, with a smile on her face. She gently patted Lana on the back of her head. "Don't worry Lana, I'm sure that you'll get your chance later to get a piece of the action."

"Good," Lana said. "I'm glad."

There was a knock on the door and Chloe bounced up to her feet. Lois wondered why her cousin looked so happy about.

Her face fell when Chloe brought back in a pretty brunette that looked a little like Lois. Clark smiled when he saw her. "You must be Lucy."

"And you must be Clark, Chloe has told me so much about you, oh it's a pleasure to meet you," Lucy Lane said. She threw her arm around Clark and gave him a hug.

Lana mouthed "can we keep her?" towards Kara and Kara smiled and nodded, before giving her the thumbs up. Lois threw her arms back and Chloe nudged her.

"So, Chloe said that you wanted to see me," Lucy said. She turned towards Lois. "And she said that it was urgent. You didn't get knocked up or something did you?"

"What, no?" Lois asked. "Lucy Lane, I ought to….."

"Lois, be nice to your sister," Kara said. Chloe smiled and winked at her. "Go ahead, kiss and make up."

Lois frowned. No matter how much she loathed it, a deal was a deal. She stepped forward, looking kind of awkward in the process.

Lucy felt her sister's arms wrap around her and she felt Lois's lips press against hers with a kiss. Her eyes bugged out in surprise, but she didn't necessarily push away. Lois's tongue slipped into her mouth a little bit.

Hey, go all in, or not at all.

Kara and Lana looked both about ready to burst a gut laughing. Lois pulled away, nibbling her sister's lower lip on the way down.

"Lost a bet again, didn't you Lois?" Lucy asked, the moment that she pulled away from the kiss. "What was the bet about this time?"

"I bet that I could get Clark drunk and Chloe said that I couldn't, and I didn't so….yeah," Lois said.

Lucy smirked. Her sister really bit off more than she could chew sometimes. "Your technique needs a little bit of work, but not half bad."

* * *

Clark returned to the Fortress, at the behest of his parents. He stepped forward into the light, walking passed the downed females of the Crime Syndicate who were still out of it after being roughly put through the paces.

He couldn't say that he felt too sorry for them getting put through the paces like they were. He stepped over their quivering bodies.

"Kal-El, welcome back," Jor-El said. "We have a gift for you to celebrate the next step of your rise to the top."

The lights flickered on and Clark saw a suit. It was dark blue with a red "S" symbol and a nice flowing cape. Clark looked it over. "Pretty good, at least it doesn't have the underwear on the wrong side of the pants."

"I managed to talk your father out of designing it in that way," Lara answered.

"It has practical scientific properties to design it that way, Lara," Jor-El said.

"No, you just have a bad sense of design, Jor-El," Lara said. She hung her head, well her hologram did.

Clark smiled and he pressed his hand on the suit. It appeared to break apart into several nano-fibers which weaved into his clothes.

"Pressing the symbol will cause the suit to go into stealth mode," Lara said. "You might want to wear something at all times when wearing the suit though, unless of course you want to give someone a free show."

"I think that I should avoid that," Clark replied. He smiled. "So, now what next?"

"That's up to you, but know that the entire world is full of threats and you will be the most adept to stop them," Lara said. "And thankfully, you won't have to do it."

There was a buzzing in his ear. Clark frowned.

"Clark, you're not going to believe this, but there's some floating imp that is terrorizing farmers here in Smallville," Chloe said. "He claims he's from the Fifth Dimension."

"That could be a problem," Clark said. "I'll be down there in a moment."

This looks like a job for Superman.

* * *

**The End. **


End file.
